


Of Arrows, Braids and Wrestlers

by charlie_miller



Category: Hunger - Fandom, Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Childhood Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Katniss and Peeta's parents are horrible, Mentioned Infidelity, POV Katniss Everdeen, POV Peeta Mellark, Roommates, mentioned alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:16:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29697681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlie_miller/pseuds/charlie_miller
Summary: Katniss and Peeta hate each other.When they both believe the other to be at the other side of the country, tucked away at a different university than their own, reality crashes in to them and they find each other enrolled at the same uni, with the same friends and in the same bubble. As memories come flooding back in and they are forced to confront their past relationship, everything changes.Can they ever be what they once were?
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51





	1. Year 1 or «How To Avoid The Person You Hate»

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. This is the first fic I post here. It's not beta'd or anything. I hope you enjoy it anyway. I might go back and edit it later.
> 
> I've always been in love with these two and I wanted to write a little story about them being childhood friends. And because I couldn't keep it at that, I spun a little enemies-to-lovers around that.
> 
> Explicit for language and eventual smut.
> 
> → Note I: Drinking age is set to European standard.
> 
> → Note II: Same as with the years they attend for their bachelor (3).

### The one with Katniss

335

337

339…

341!

Of course with Katniss’ luck, she had ended up with a room almost at the end of the world. At least that meant she’d get somewhat of peace and quiet — or so she hoped she would. Most of the doors to the other rooms were open, inside life was bustling about and other students were laughing, mingling and getting to know their roommates and neighbours. Her room, as well as the one opposite of it, were closed. Katniss didn’t knock, she didn’t think about it too much and if she did, she probably wouldn’t have done it anyway. Either way it was a mistake.

Opening the door, her duffle bag slung over her shoulder and one hand still gripping the knob, she stepped into what was supposed to be her room. What she found inside was a girl with long dark hair, completely naked and facing her — so you know what that meant. She didn’t even look flustered or anything — much in comparison to Katniss herself.

„Fuck! Shit! Sorry!“, she practically yelled at the brunette, already turning around and slamming the door shut behind her.

Katniss got out the paper slip with her information, including the room number which she must’ve checked wrong, from her jeans’ back pocket.

Nope, there it was. _Building C, Room 341_. She remembered seeing the big, fat, brown C at the entrance. So, yeah, this was apparently her roommate and she… liked to stand naked in her room? Ok, yeah sure, she had probably been changing, but Katniss still found the whole scene weird. She wasn’t a prude, oh no, but to meet your roommate like that? No, thanks. She’d give her a few minutes to put some clothes on and try it again.

Before she could turn around to walk back down the hallway to find somewhere to sit and wait, a voice came from the other side of the hallway. It was filled with memories and immediately sent chills down her spine. The hairs on her arms stood up.

„Oh look who the cat dragged in. They're letting anybody into the school now, eh?“

_No, please, no._

The voice embodied Katniss’ own personal hell. It was warm and smooth like honey and the person it was connected to was equally as beautiful. But that didn’t change the fact she hated him. _It didn’t change it one bit, thank you very much._

She came up with a response before turning around to face him. It had always been this way between them. She insulted him, he insulted her back and so on.

Well no, the _always_ part was a lie. It hadn’t been, but that didn’t matter anymore. It hadn’t for the last four years or so.

„Oh don’t tell me I’ll have to tell the floor manager they have a cockroach problem here?“, Katniss snarled.

The moment Katniss actually saw him her stomach did summersaults. Out of hate, of course. Nothing else. Never anything else. She couldn’t wrap her mind around why Peeta Mellark would be here at the school she had chosen so far away from their hometown down in Twelve. Madge had told her that he would be going to Cap U — on the other side of the country. Didn’t he have that huge break up with Delly Fucking Cartwright because she was going to a different school than him? She knew this because Madge had told her, of course, not because she was interested in who he was dating and breaking up with.

_Of course._

Maybe he was helping somebody move? Or he was visiting because he was starting school later? Or… She knew this was all wishful thinking, his bag laying behind him in the room.

He was leaning against the door frame, his impressive shoulders connecting with the metal and his arms crossed over his equally impressive chest. His white shirt didn’t leave much to the imagination with his muscles clearly visible underneath the thin fabric. Years of wrestling had formed his body into the statue that it was now at 19. His blond hair was longer now than it had been three months ago at graduation — even more perfectly _tuggable_ than it had been then. The jeans he was wearing were worn, torn and cuffed at the ankles, but hugged his legs just right. He seemed older, maturer — must’ve finally grown up over the summer. Peeta seemed more confident than just a few months before, more sure of himself.

_Great, his ego had grown. Not like he needed any more of that._

Despite the distaste Katniss had for him, she couldn’t deny the effect he had on her. _Fuck, he looked good. He always did._

She hated herself a little for thinking like that. But that didn’t change the fact that he was and would always be the biggest asshole there was. He was a Mellark after all, he had his father’s genes.

„Har-har, Everdeen. Here I thought I’d finally gotten rid of you, only to have you as my neighbour? I’ll try not be so loud, so you can get a good night sleep“, he said with a smirk and signature Peeta wink reserved only for his latest conquests and, in an obviously ironic way, herself. „Unless you want me to call you in, and you can watch.“

„Disgusting“, she retorted with an additional Katniss-scowl. To prove her point further she squeezed her nose shut with her index and middle finger.

Who did he think he was? She didn’t want to know about his future sexual endeavours. And she surely did not want to _see_ them. Not because she was jealous of those girls (because she _wasn’t_ ). No it was because, well, just because. She needed to save her brain space for school, not for Peeta _Fucking_ Mellark. Or rather who Peeta Mellark was _fucking_.

At that moment she realized how he was looking her up and down, seemingly checking her out. But this was Peeta Mellark here. No, he was without a doubt not checking _her_ out. Katniss was so far removed from his usual track record that she knew for certainty that he would never find _her_ attractive. Repulsive yes, attractive no. The girls he liked were always blonde or ginger, always beautiful, tall, curvy and athletic. Always _a lot._ And Katniss didn’t care one bit who he had slept with. She only knew this because it had been public knowledge in her school, with Peeta being so popular and all.

It wasn’t that she thought she was ugly or anything. She just knew that the way he looked at her had nothing to do with sexual attraction. If they were the last two people on Earth, then maybe. No, not even then. No, she had dark, almost black hair and her appearance was nothing special. Her features were all very plain. Especially today as she hadn’t put on any make up for the multiple hour bus ride of here, wearing her old Dr Martens and dark jeans. Her grey t-shirt was so big, even if she’d had bigger boobs they wouldn’t have been visible enough for Mister Mellark to find them any appealing.

„What are you looking at, Mellark?“, Katniss finally asked him, throwing her braid over her shoulder.

Peeta shrugged his shoulder and stared into her eyes, the blue orbs seemingly trying to pierce through her soul. „You seem different. Let somebody finally fuck you?“

_How dare he?_

„Fuck _you_ , Peeta!“, Katniss yelled, fuming.

Once again he had gotten under her skin and she wanted nothing more than to get as far away from him as possible. She turned around and with her hand already on the knob and her body in a position ready for flight, the door swung open from the inside, effectively catapulting her into the lap of the naked-now-dressed girl in her room. Katniss scrambled to get up, hearing Peeta’s stifled laugh just a few feet from her, and she felt the warmth creep up on her face. She was sure that she looked like an overripe tomato by now.

_Great. Just great._

„Hey Prudence, you’ve already seen me naked, now you’re on top of me? You could’ve just asked if you wanted to have sex“, her supposed roommate said calmly while getting up herself. Her eyes were on Peeta the whole time.

„I- uhm- I-“, Katniss stammered her was through some nonsensical words, avoiding Peeta’s gaze. He would have a field day telling this tale to all his friends.

„Don’t worry about her, she short circuits around people“, Peeta said to the stranger but looking squarely at Katniss while doing so. For a split second there was a weird emotion in his eyes, something Katniss couldn’t place. But as soon as it was there it was gone again.

She was in her new personal hell. Peeta across the hallway and a naked stranger who now thought she wanted to have sex with her. _Fuck._ How did this day turn out like this? Ignoring Peeta, she stepped back into the room and shut the door behind her. They were now alone and her social anxiety kicked in. She had no idea how to introduce herself to her roommate from whom she saw all her parts before she knew her name.

„My name’s Jo. Short for Johanna Mason“, the tall woman said, extending her arm.

Well, okay then.

Katniss shook it, introducing herself. „Katniss Everdeen, hi. Sorry for before.“

„Ah“, Johanna huffed, her hand making a dismissive gesture. „Won’t be the last time you see me naked. We all have the same parts.“

Katniss cringed at the thought as Johanna went over to her side of the room and got a bag of nuts from the desk, taking out a few and offering Katniss some. She declined and Johanna asked, „So, are you going to tap that hot blondie out there or what?“

Katniss had started to unpack her bag on her bed, throwing her belongings into the dresser next to it. Her emotions went wild at the thought of _taping Peeta._ She was only human, she had needs, she found him objectively attractive, and she had heard the stories from the girls in school. If one wanted to believe them, he was great in bed as well, using his wrestling muscles for all sorts of things.

_Shit._

„No, I’d never“, Katniss said, turning around to Johanna but her gaze directly going to the closed door.

Johanna’s eyebrows shot up at that, looking at Katniss. Then she shrugged and said, „Good, more for me then.“

Katniss didn’t tell the dark haired beauty in front of her that she was not his type, the faces of the girls in the school flooding her mind. Madge, Delly, Alyss, Daphne, Tyne, Cass and Opal. Just to name a few.

Katniss rubbed her eyes, bringing her attention back to her clothes. She tried to get Peeta out of her mind. It had worked so well after graduation, why the fuck was it so hard now? If these five minutes were anything to go by, she was in for a rough three years.

・・・ ・・・

The frat house stunk, and it was only scratching ten pm. The wave hit Katniss instantly once she stepped over the threshold, being met by several dozen drunk college athletes. From what Johanna had told her it was the biggest party at the start of the semester, organized by the captains of each varsity team. Even her own captain, Glimmer, was doing her part. She didn’t see her own new teammates, but from what she had learned over the past few days, they weren’t big into drinking anyway. As a matter of fact, Katniss wasn’t either. But Johanna wouldn’t shut up about it, mocking Katniss on how uptight she was. In the end she snapped and buckled under the pressure.

Here she was now. Alone at a frat house sports party, her anxiety kicking in. The students around her were shit-faced, lounging on all surfaces available, _making out_ on all surfaces available. She didn’t judge anybody for their actions but damn, she knew a few of these guys who depended on their athletic abilities to keep their scholarships and if they didn’t perform well enough, they were out.

Johanna was nowhere in sight and the people Katniss recognized weren’t friends or anything. She hadn’t gotten to that part of the college experience yet.

Katniss avoided getting drenched in sticky alcoholic mixtures as she weaved her way through equally sticky humans toward the kitchen. Against her own better judgement she poured herself some of the alcohol. Was it vodka and Red Bull? Who the fuck knew. It didn’t taste half as bad as it smelled, and she clung to it until she could make her way outside on the patio overlooking the unkept backyard of the house.

_Ah, shit._

Katniss had avoided seeing him throughout her time at Panem U — except for their first encounter between their rooms. But here he was, flirting with a hot blonde. Peeta.

She knew she should’ve gone back in, but the number of people inside were just too much to handle for her at that moment, and so she silently made her way past the talking couple sitting on the steps, down towards the tree line and a deserted bench and her back towards them. Katniss got wonderful five minutes of quiet and peace before she heard him come up towards where she was sitting, plopping himself on the empty spot next to hers. He smelled of the same booze she was still sipping on and his body language already told her that he’d had a few too many of those drinks.

„Are you stalking me, frowny face?“, Peeta said, his speech slurred as Katniss did exactly that, frown at him.

„Why would I want to stalk you? You came to me just now“, Katniss said. She crossed her arms defensively over her chest, preparing for a nonsensical discussion.

„Yeah well, okay“, he paused, swaying back and forth a little. Suddenly, Katniss was worried that he would topple over, landing face first on the ground. But as he continued to speak, he leaned back more, stabilizing his position. „I saw you at training yesterday. I knew you’d still be great at archery. Congrats on your scholarship.“

„Thanks“, she whispered, baffled by his honesty. That’s when she looked at him more closely. He was slouched against the armrest of the bench, his tanktop drenches on one side. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to have a hard time staying awake. Katniss stood up in a rush, throwing her drink into the grass and abandoning the cup all together. It would stay there until somebody from the house would clean it up.

„Come on big guy, let’s get you home“, she said, as she grabbed onto his wrist and tried to yank him up. Fuck, he was massive. It was a five-minute walk back to their building, and she’d be damned if she left him at the house on his own. Katniss didn’t know how many friends he had already made, but she was sure nobody knew him for as long as she had. She owed her twelve-year-old self to help him.

Suddenly, he was awake, his eyes on full alert.

„Katniss Everdeen, coming home with me? This must be a dream! Or a nightmare. Can’t decide.“

Katniss paused. She knew he was drunk, but she couldn’t blame it on the alcohol, he would’ve said something like that to her anyway. Even after all this time it hurt. It took all of her willpower to not push him and let him fall where he stood, leaving him to his own demise. But she didn’t. Katniss gripped the arm she was already holding a little tighter and slung it around her shoulder. She was shorter than him by a few inches, but she would make it work. With her free hand, she gripped his side and set them into motion, walking along the house, up to the front porch. They made it a few minutes until his stomach decided, that the alcohol had to go. This happened twice on their way home and Katniss was almost glad for it — it kept his mouth occupied.

Finally inside their ugly ass building, she dragged him the last few feet into the elevator, pushed their floor button and waited for the door to ding open. Peeta was getting heavier by the second, and she knew how far the way to their end of the hallway was. But she surprised herself as they stood in front of his room, after what felt like an eternity. He lifted his head, saw the number on the door and turned to her.

„Thanks Everdeen, I’ll be fine now.“

Before she could answer him, he opened his door and light flooded the hallway. Katniss saw that his roommate was still up, sitting at his desk and looking at Peeta in complete disbelief. Peeta loosened himself from her stead grip, and slumped onto his bed on the left.

„The fuck man? Thought you had training first thing tomorrow?“, the attractive guy with the flaming red hair asked Peeta, who was laying face down and mumbling into his white bedsheets.

Katniss couldn’t explain what had come over her, but next thing she knew she stepped into their room and shot the roommate an apologetic glance. She pulled Peeta to his side, freeing his mouth just in case. The trash can from his desk would do, so she placed it right next to his head on the floor. Before she could even yell at him, he was sleep, still in his dirty clothes and leaving Katniss alone in the room with the redhead.

_Awkward._

„He already threw up on the way here, not gonna let him die“, Katniss explained to him.

„Ah, you’re the one he told me about. Katniss, right?“, the stranger asked her.

For a second or even longer she was baffled. Peeta? Talking about her?

„Yeah“, she confirmed. „I bet he told you how much he hates me right?“, she offered with a dismissive hand gesture.

He shot her look of surprise, followed by a set of raised eyebrows. One of his hands wandered to his hair, ruffling through it. Katniss would bet good money that girls also flung themselves at this guy. A match made in heaven. „Well, yes and no.“

Before Katniss could ask what he meant, he stretched his hand out, and she took it.

„Finnick.“

„Ah nice to meet you. Uh yeah, Katniss.“

_Nice one._

„I was supposed to go and babysit that guy, but I worked late, and I have an early training session tomorrow, so I bailed“, he apologized.

„Oh you’re also on a team. What do you do?“, Katniss asked, genuinely interested.

„Swimming.“

Once he said it, she could see it in his body stature, he was all upper body. He was the embodiment of a big ass V. There was also a banner hanging over his desk of Four — a state known for its swimming competitors. With it being so close to the ocean all the National Champions came from there, even every Olympian. Katniss knew these random swimming facts because Prim was _obsessed_ with swimmers.

„Wow that’s cool. My sister loves watching swimming competitions“, she offered as Finnick nodded in understanding.

What was she doing? Was this my attempt at flirting? She needed to leave. Now.

„And you? You were at the party as well I assume?“, he asked casually. Of course, somebody like him would have no problem to steer a conversion.

Katniss twirled her fingers around the ends of her braid before answering, „Ah yes. I do archery.“ She braced herself for the stereotypical remarks people made about her sport.

„Like that girl in that movie. What was it again? Hunger Games!“

And there it was. Katniss sighed and was already backing out of the room. She didn’t need to hear that it was so cool and that he wished he could also shoot arrows. She didn’t need to hear if she’d ever hunted her own food.

So she glanced back to Peeta, sleeping peacefully in his bed as something tugged on her heart. She waved at Finnick, her hand already on the doorknob. „Good Night Finnick, nice meeting you.“

Before he could say anything more than his own „Good Night“ she closed the door and vanished into her own room. Johanna wasn’t there, most likely still at that stupid party. After taking a shower to get all the party stench off her body she laid in bed, trying desperately to get the blonde boy from her hometown out of her mind. What had he told Finnick about her? Why didn’t Finnick think she was the worst person ever? Surely anything Peeta had to say about her was horrendous.

Sleep came sometime after that, but the baker’s boy from Twelve followed her into her dreams. But here they were much younger, two children who didn’t know what was ahead of them.

* * *

### The one with Peeta

_Fuck._

_Shit._

Madge had told him that _she_ was going to Cap U on a full scholarship, utilizing their top-notch Environmental Studies degree there.

_Apparently fucking not._

Now Katniss was everywhere. Since they had met in that hallway on the first day, yelling at each other like they always had, he had seen her a total of twenty times. In two weeks. Including of course when he saw her at the sports party, standing in a corner and looking like a lost puppy.

But who was counting? He wasn’t. He didn’t care about her. Oh no. Peeta needed to get going on his wrestling team, make sure he stayed on it for his scholarships sake and get good enough grades. He also wanted to get laid, _needed_ go get laid. He needed to erase a memory from his mind. Not that he didn’t like the memory, oh no. But he’d like some good nights sleep, thank you very much. He needed a fucking distraction, simple as that. Katniss Everdeen would not be the one to cause his downfall. Not _this time_. And why would she? He didn’t care about her enough to let her be the cause of any distractions.

_Well, that was a fucking lie he told himself to sleep better._

Peeta was badly fidgeting with his pencil, bouncing it up and down on his notepad to the beat of his restless leg. He was sitting on those god awful chairs in room 413, his back to the door and waiting for the History of Panem class to start. The room was packed, full of student buzzing to get started. He knew nobody, not surprising as he hadn’t bothered to make friends until now. Which was a new thing for him — he was usually great at making friends. His phone buzzed in his pants, bringing him out of monotonous pre-class haze. He couldn’t stifle his groan when he finally checked it. His ex had been on his nerves since graduation, wanting to get back together, not understanding why they broke up. He put the whole thing on silent, tucking it back into his backpack. He knew that he would eventually have to talk to her, but he was going to ignore her for the time being.

Peeta smelled her perfume before he heard her crash her bag down on the seat next to him. The rich scent of wood and the faintest hint of floral. He didn’t have to turn around to know who had taken up what seemed to be the last available spot in the classroom. Especially not after she had used that perfume for years now. The nostalgia hit him like a freight train, and he hoped she didn’t see how he had to squeeze his eyes shut and clench his fists underneath the table.

Why the fuck did she still have this effect on him? She hated him and he hated her. It was that easy. He dared to peak at her from under his eyelashes, gazing at Katniss who was staring right ahead at the professor who had just walked into the room. She didn’t acknowledge him in any way and that was just fine with him.

_School, Mellark. Concentrate on school._

He needed to get that business degree and this was the way to do it. Apparently, this also meant taking a History class with Katniss. Peeta just needed to remind himself what he was doing this for. The sweet freedom he would gain with it, the world that would be open to him after he graduated and how he would never ever have to see his dysfunctional parents, especially his mother, ever again. Only a few more years.

As the professor in front of them talked about the upcoming year, their syllabus and what assignments they would have to do to pass, Katniss whispered under her breath, „You know, you could’ve at least said thank you.“

He could’ve-? He could’ve said thank you? For what?

Peeta looked at her in a moment where he most likely wouldn’t miss much of what was going on in front of him. She was still looking straight ahead, but he had known her long enough to know that she was zoned out from what was happening at the front of the room.

„And for what exactly?“, Peeta asked absolutely unaware of what she meant.

Katniss turned around for the first time, her grey eyes piercing through his soul and his whole being. There had always been something there in those eyes, something he couldn’t understand, something melancholic, and it had only gotten worse after her father had died.

She scowled, then asked him, her voice still barely louder than a whisper but more high-pitched than just a moment ago, „Seriously? For _what_?“

She was mad. He could tell from the way her shoulder tensed up underneath her hoodie. He could tell how her left eye was starting to twitch. And he could tell in the way she couldn’t focus her eyes on one part of him, trying to search if he was lying or messing with her. He could _tell_ because he had known this woman since kindergarten. He could tell because despite everything that had happened between them and despite their hatred for each other, he was still head over heels for her. And so, he just stared at her, for a moment not knowing what to do or to say.

„Me bringing you home perhaps?“, she hushed out, quickly checking if somebody was paying attention to them.

He doubted that anybody would care if these two kids from that one little town in Twelve were fighting or not. This wasn’t high school, they were the only people they knew from there. Nobody cared about them. Well no, nobody cared about _him_. He cared for her in his weird twisted mind that couldn’t decide what he should feel when it came to Katniss Everdeen.

„What are you talking about, Everdeen?“, Peeta hissed, still utterly confused as to what she was talking about.

„Are you shitting me right now?“, she asked, her eyes still searching him. Her mouth fell open and her eyes wandered away from him, as realization must’ve dawned on her. „You _don’t_ remember.“

„No shit, Sherlock“, Peeta snapped.

„I got your drunken ass home after the varsity party and made sure- I delivered you to Finnick“, Katniss bit back. She was twirling her fingers through her hair, like he knew she did when she was nervous.

Peeta had woken up that morning, with no fucking idea how he had gotten home and Finnick being gone already. He had barely made it to his training session with the wrestling team, and it had been a hungover mess. Never in a million years would he had thought that Katniss _To-Good-For-Parties_ Everdeen had gotten him home. His roommate hadn’t said anything, and he hadn’t asked. He had just assumed he’d gotten himself home.

Peeta wanted to say something. He really did. He wanted to thank her, but the words were stuck in his throat. They were itching at the walls, clawing at them, and he just couldn’t put it into words. His was too proud to thank her.

_Just fucking thank her._

„Yeah, that’s what I thought“, Katniss said, completely defeated.

She turned back to the lecturer and for the rest of the class she didn’t look at him, let alone talk to him. In the stolen moments when he glanced at her, she was fully focused on the class and his heart ached for the times they had been able to talk normally with each other.

His heart ached for her.

・・・ ・・・

It had been over three months. He had never thanked her, which had just proved her what of a huge asshole he was. One part of him was glad that she did, it made her stay away from him and his conflicting feelings for her were easier to handle. But he knew that she was so close, and he still couldn’t talk to her. At least in high school they had still yelled at each other while being pissed of by the other.

He was friends with Finnick, quickly replacing his jock friends from high school that he didn’t keep in contact with. _Deep friendship that was._ And with Finnick came Johanna. They had known each other before college and for some weird cosmical reason they had moved into rooms across the hall from each other.

Whenever he was hanging around with Johanna and Finn, Katniss was nowhere to be seen despite knowing that she was friends with her roommate. They were actively avoiding each other and it hurt.

It hurt like crazy. It was freshman year of high school all over again. Christmas came and went, and he knew that she was in town, visiting her family. He even saw Prim, and she looked happy and well and for a split second, he wanted to go to Katniss’ sister and tell her to say hi to her from him, but he didn’t. He stayed where he was, in his parent’s bakery off Main Street, looking out of the window in hopes of seeing the bigger sister herself in between serving customers and telling them about their _Bread of the Month_.

But he didn’t, and he wouldn’t.

New Years happened in the same fashion. As he partied into the New Year with his old high school friends, down at the Seam. He hooked up with somebody, but couldn’t remember with who by the next day. It wasn’t Katniss, so it didn’t matter.

Coming back to Pan U after the break was like a roller coaster. Johanna and Finnick hung out as much as they did before, but Katniss was there more times than not. They still didn’t talk to each other except for polite greetings. Their friends thought they were being childish, and they probably were, but the tension between them was going to explode one day, they were just waiting for that to happen.

But to everybody’s surprise it didn’t. Instead, they both attended the football party, hosted by the winning team themselves. It was the team’s, the Pan U Sharks, first collegiate win in twenty years and Peeta hadn’t seen any sober person in hours. People were partying, drinking, taking drugs, finding spots to make out and disappearing into rooms to do more.

Finnick nudged his side with his elbow, handing him a cup of cheap whiskey coke. Peeta took it thankfully, held his cup against Finnick’s, then took a huge gulp of the liquid. His friends were pretty good at keeping Katniss out of any topics, but apparently today was the day that changed.

„So, Jo should be here any minute“, he said tentatively, looking sideways at Peeta. „And Kat said she’d be here too.“

Peeta let out a groan, then immediately tried to stifle it. He didn’t like to complain in front of other people about her. And in all honesty, he didn’t have anything bad to say about her anyway, He didn’t have anything to say about her, period. They didn’t talk, they didn’t interact. They were strangers.

_He hated it._

He would’ve preferred her to yell at him.

„She asked about you“, Finnick said after a minute. His eyes anywhere but looking at Peeta.

Peeta suppressed a laugh, turning it into a chuckle before retorting, „She _asked_ about me? What did she ask? If I’d already caught an STD? I bet she’d love to hear that“.

Before Finnick could answer him, they walked in. Coming into the living room through the hallway lined with athletic dudes who were mostly past any saving — alcohol wise. Johanna was wearing her typical Johanna thing — _short was even too long_. Her hair was halfway pinned up and Peeta already saw some guys salivating after her. His eyes flew right to Katniss though, her toned legs wrapped in skinny black jeans, a ripped band shirt tucked into the front. And for fucks sake, her hair was out of her signature braid. She had thrown half of her long weaves into a knot at the top of her head, letting the rest fall in waves over her shoulders. He was _fucked._

_Utterly fucked._

Waving at them, they made their way over to where Peeta and Finnick were standing, Katniss gaze fixed on Peeta. There was once again something in her look that he couldn’t place.

„Hey“, he said to them but only meant for Katniss if he was being honest.

She angled her head in a mocking way, before saying, „Hey there.“

„Yeeeeah hey. We’re gonna get something to drink. Want some more?“, Joanna asked Peeta and Katniss, clearly already mentally in the kitchen with the alcohol.

„Want to play beer pong?“, Peeta asked Katniss at the same time, ignoring Johanna’s question completely. The latter just shrugged her shoulder and walked away, Finnick in tow.

Katniss’ raised her eyebrows, her face grimacing at spending time with him. However, surprising him. „Yeah because you need the help badly.“

Was she already drunk? Was he hallucinating? _Was he in a coma?_

Why the fuck would he ask her to play beer pong and why the über-fuck would she accept? His brain was going a hundred miles an hour trying to understand the current situation.

They had played before. Once. At a high school party where they really shouldn’t have been drinking, but they were young and stupid and the people from their class had wanted to be drunk. It had been about two weeks before all hell broke loose, and they had been on the same team. In life and during that game.

They started, Katniss threw the first ball and it landet immediately with a „plop“ inside their opponents cup. The broad dude who was looking at Katniss as if he was undressing her with his eyes chugged the drink, his eyes never leaving her body. Peeta tried to burry his weird emotions that arose when he realized that Katniss wasn’t giving a flying fuck about the dude or was reciprocating his looks. The guy’s friend threw and missed. Peeta quickly threw himself, trying to get his mind to focus on anything but Katniss. It landed somewhere behind the guys.

_He was bad at this._

„We’re playing together here, big shot, at least try to be good at it“, she mocked as the other guys ball landed surely in her hand, completely overshooting the ball after bouncing on the table once.

Peeta could feel the alcohol running through his veins when he spoke. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, „Then show me how it’s done, Everdeen.“

Her grey eyes on him, one even winking, she took the ping pong ball into her hand, three fingers lightly holding it in place, shooting it in a high arc and letting it land in the cup nearest to them.

_She was great at this._

Peeta heard the groan from the other side and as his teammate was drinking, the broad dude was still fixated on Katniss. He hated how his feelings about her were currently being blended up in a mixer. He shouldn’t care that somebody else was interested in her, she _was_ objectively pretty. It made sense that guys looked at her. He wasn’t jealous.

_Yeah, he could keep lying to himself._

Katniss was beautiful, absolutely stunning actually. She always had been. She was sexy and fierce — an absolute badass. Seeing her be great at things was a huge turn on for him, and he knew that he would have to fuck it out of his system tonight, with a girl that didn’t look anything like Katniss — like he did with every woman he slept with. He was an asshole for doing so, but he just couldn’t do it otherwise.

„Mellark!“, she yelled at him, ripping him out of the daydream he was having, his turn coming up. The guys at the other side of the table were down two cups with Katniss and him still standing strong with their nine red cups lined up in a perfect pyramid formation in front of them.

Startled into throwing, he missed once again. Apparently only Katniss was good at this.

„For fucks sake, Mellark. Where you really _this_ bad at home?“, she said, her tone mildly annoyed.

_Plop._

Ah, the others had finally scored. With an eye roll, she picked up the cup, fishing the orange ball out and drinking the warm beer in one rush, ending with a grimace on her face. Rinsing the ball quickly, she said to him, „Here, watch me“.

_He could do that._

Four fingers held on to the ball, her arm slightly angled, her stance secure, and she looked like she did at her archery competitions. The ones he attended with her before high school and the ones he had gone to alone in high school. She took a deep breath, eyes directly on the cup she wanted the ball to land it. As she drew her arm back a little, she released the ball, and it soared through the air and of course making its final destination in the intended cup.

Naturally, she sported a smug look after that.

He didn’t care for the other two, his eyes were only on her. And as their opponent’s ball didn’t go in but instead rolled from the table he picked it up, rinsed it once again, then adapted Katniss’ finger positioning.

Peeta hadn’t registered that Katniss had moved from his left side to stand behind him, only realizing when he heard her tongue pop in a very annoyed fashion. His skin prickled when she touched his arm with her soft fingers, angling his limb into the position she deemed ideal. Her foot rearranged his own as her hands twisted his hips into a different position all together.

„Try that“, she suggested with a confident voice.

He drew back the way he had seen her do, focused on the left cup in the back and let the ball fly. It landed in a different cup all together, but he took it.

„Yes!“, he exclaimed, holding up his hand to Katniss, and she answered him with a high five. Her skin felt hot on his own, making him hyperaware of her presence.

They played back and forth, the game quickly coming to an end thanks to Katniss. They filled the cups back up and went for a second time, Peeta learning quickly. He even got Katniss to smile a few times — his heart warming from the picture.

„Ah fuck this“, the broad shouldered dude said when they lost the second round as well. Several people were lining up to take their change at beer pong, but before he could really register who had taken their previous opponents place, Katniss had touched his elbow and motioned to the kitchen.

„Come on Mellark, let’s get something to drink“, she said while turning around and walking away.

He found her leaning against the kitchen counter, a filled cup outstretched to him when he reached her. He leaned his shoulder against the fridge, standing right next to her. They hadn’t been this close in years, hadn’t talked to each other this much in years, and he realized why it was better that she hated him — it kept her from him. His heart couldn’t handle her being so close — physically and emotionally. He had never stopped feeling for her in the way he had before all their shit had gone down, but yelling at her had helped. So had being with every girl he knew she hated. Because when he was alone, his mind didn’t reminisce on past girlfriends, no it went to the dark haired goddess standing in this random frat house kitchen with him.

Her eyes were on him, clearly trying to understand his angle here. She mistrusted him. Good. That way she’d maybe stay back again because on his own he couldn’t muster up the energy to fight with her today. Instead, he opted for what he should’ve done months ago.

„Thanks for getting me home, Everdeen“, he said wholeheartedly.

Katniss chocked on the sip she had just taken, her eyes wide. „How hard was that for you to say?“

Peeta took a half step towards her, pushing his body away from the fridge. He emptied his cup with the godawful sweet alcohol in it and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Her eyes went straight to his flexed muscles.

_Ah, good to know._

„I should’ve done it right away, but you know… that way you had an _actual_ reason to hate me.“ He just couldn’t stop the bickering. Maybe it was enough to keep her away, because now, the way she looked and her face all frowny and beautiful, he had a very hard time not touching her.

He’d agreed to get an apartment off campus with Johanna and Finnick, and he knew that Johanna had asked Katniss to move in with them, but he was absolutely positive that his former best friend would never come live with him under one roof. Ok well, technically they were doing that now. But he meant in the same apartment — she wouldn’t want to live with him in the _same apartment_. He could gain much needed distance between them, even if he didn’t want that.

_He didn’t know one bit what he actually wanted with Katniss._

_Well no, that was a lie, but what he wanted was off the tables._

„Thanks“, she answered him after a pause. Her grey eyes now back to watching his face, no doubt still trying to find his motivation here. She set down her cup and pushed herself back from the counter so that the two now stood a few inches from each other. „I’ll head home now. Good game, Mellark. See you.“

Her hand was on his bare arm just underneath the stretched fabric, and he was sure he didn’t just imagine how she squeezed his muscles just a little. She didn’t wait for an answer from him, making her way through the crowd. He watched her leave, and it felt so much like it did all those years ago. Before he could do what he had wanted back then — run after her and try to convince her to stay — she had gone, swallowed up by their fellow students.

After that, he distracted himself in the only way he knew how. Her name was Arna or Ara oder whatever, he didn’t really care. She had chin-length, platinum blonde hair and her eyes were blue.

_Perfect._


	2. Year 2 or «How To Be Friends With Your Enemy»

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes at the end.

### The one with Katniss

Two weeks before the new year started, the other three hadn’t found a flatmate despite the campus being full of students looking for accommodation. Katniss had finally given in and moved into the fourth bedroom in their off-campus apartment. Finnick later confessed that they had never looked for anybody else, knowing that she would give in one day.

But now she was stuck with Peeta. Which would’ve been fine — they weren’t friends, but had calmly accepted the other. Until Peeta had come home from Twelve with a little gift — his old girlfriend Delly. _Fuck that bitch._ Even if she had insisted in getting the room farthest away from his, she still heard everything. Even the noise cancelling headphone she had made Johanna buy her couldn’t lessen the screams Delly was letting out, making Peeta’s flatmates feel as if they were there, in the room with them. They were screwing each other. Every. Fucking. Night.

And then in the morning she was there, in his clothes of course and always sporting a triumphant grin. They never greeted each other, and why would they? If she _truly hated_ somebody, it was Delly. Stuck up, arrogant, rich girl Delly. She had made her life in high school a living hell, weaving in and out of relationships like it was her favourite hobby — especially with Peeta.

Peeta, who was bulking up due to his more ambitions wrestling training. He had always looked good, but he had just gotten hotter over the summer. It sounded like a cheesy starting line of an equally cheesy teenage drama show, but it was true. He had come back looking like a Greek god and Delly. Apparently, she had switched to Pan U, and they had decided that being together would be such an amazing idea. Which included ignoring their previously failed relationships.

_Barf._

So, Katniss ignored Delly and said hello to Peeta when she needed to. Nothing more, nothing less. They didn’t hate each other, but they didn’t like each other either. Katniss fully concentrated on school instead. Crunching her courses, studying on her days off. Training archery and juggling her part-time job as a bad bartender simultaneously. She barely saw her flatmates and their current relationships anyway and had no time for any love life herself, even if Johanna pushed her to and she could’ve used the release.

Now, a few weeks until the Christmas break, she felt the pressure growing exponentially. It was silently crushing her under the load of too many responsibilities. She would’ve been able to handle it like she always did — she was used to being the one who could do it all while suffering through her duties. She had gotten her Mom and her baby sister through some rough years without any money, for fucks sake.

When she ended the sixth phone call of the morning though, she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Standing in the kitchen, her whole body slagged against the island as the floor slowly come closer. Her hand clutching her phone and the words still ringing in her head. Her heart rate started to speed up, and she needed to get up, needed to move. Not only that, but her class was going to start soon, and she couldn’t miss that damn thing, exams were coming up.

But she couldn’t. She could only stay put and let the tears flow.

Her mother had done it again. She had taken their life and made it even shittier than it had already been. When Prim had called her that morning, Katniss had thought it would be just a normal phone call, routine for the two sisters, but no, Katniss wasn’t allowed to just be a young adult for once in her life.

The cold tiles of the kitchen floor embraced her as she laid down on them, her body in a fetal position. She slung her arms around her legs, sobbing into her knees. Katniss felt weak, her energy all used up to rearrange things back home in Twelve. She was forever grateful for Gale and his decision to stay in town and work in his cousin’s auto shop.

_That sounded so selfish._

She had hoped he would get out of there as well, go and get an education, but he, like her, had too many responsibilities. Other than her though, he hadn’t been as selfish and had stayed with his siblings. Promising her before she left that he would make sure nothing ever happened to Prim.

Katniss knew that she was supposed to start packing, organizing a ride home, talk to her professors and see how to minimize the damage her leaving the school for a week or so would do. She knew this, and yet, she let herself be dragged deeper into her hole of darkness.

She didn’t hear the front door being opened, or her flatmate stepping into the kitchen. She barely felt the hand touch her arm.

„Katniss“.

Somebody was saying her name. They were so far away. Where were they calling from?

„Katniss!“

Yes, somebody was yelling. She opened her eyes, her vision blurry from the tears shed.

„Fuck, Kat. Talk to me!“

 _Kat._ She hadn’t heard that in a while.

Strong arms came around her and with what seemed no effort at all and hauled her body into their lap. The same arms engulfed her and her tears stained a shirt smelling of Peeta’s cologne.

_Peeta._

Scrambling to get up, she tried to back out of the embrace, but he held her firmly against him, one of his hands stroking her hair. Her tears stopped and her vision cleared enough to the point that she could see him, his face so unbelievably close. Her breathing was fast, and she just couldn’t wrap her mind around what was happening. Peeta’s hand came from the back of her head to cup her face, wiping rogue tears away with his thumb, while his eyes were kind and gentle.

She gulped, before weakly croaking out, „Peeta.“

„Shhh“, he soothed her. „You’re okay.“

And because her feelings were inside a tornado anyway when it came to Peeta and the morning had just been a horrible one in general, she dropped her head to his shoulders as his arms brought her closer to him. She could feel his heart beat, so close to her own. It wasn’t calm, not quite racing either, though. His breath was hot on her neck.

She had no idea how long they stayed in that position, but he was looking at her when she finally lifted her head, letting out a ragged breath. Her tears had dried, her energy hadn’t returned. Peeta shifted slightly underneath her.

„Fuck, sorry. I’ll just-“, she started, trying once more to get up, but like before his arms wouldn’t move.

„I’m fine, Everdeen“, he paused to look at her, „Want to tell me what’s going on?“

Did she? If she was being honest, apart from Prim and Gale he was the only person who would know what she was talking about. He was the only person who would understand her. He was the only person out of them who wasn’t involved _this time._ Fifteen-year-old Katniss nudged her to spill out her heart. He was patiently waiting, but she also knew he’d understand if she didn’t want to say anything. They weren’t friends after all.

Katniss started to recap the morning’s events as fast as she could. „I woke up to two missed calls this morning. It was Prim. I called her back right away, and she was crying. Like, really crying. You know that she never cries. It took me a good five minutes to get her to tell me what was going on“, Katniss paused, taking a deep breath. „Because I didn’t have a message from Gale on my phone though I didn’t think much of it. After my mother’s last meltdown I told Prim to always call Gale and then we’d figure something out together. Yeah well, she didn’t. Because she broke down herself before she could remember to do so and called me straight away instead. Which of course is fine, but I thought everything else was fine too, you know?“.

Peeta nodded, his eyes still on her face. One of his hands came around to her arm, stroking her skin softly with his calloused hands in an attempt to sooth her.

„Well she told me that Mom had kicked her out. Prim. After everything, we’ve gone through Mom had kicked her out at four in the morning because in that moment she made Prim responsible for _everything_ and I wasn’t there to take the blame in her place.“

Katniss focused her gaze on Peeta and the shared memories flooded her system, no doubt playing before his eyes as well. He looked pained, defeated and even destroyed. He didn’t say a word, she knew he would let her tell her story without any interruptions. Peeta knew all too well what _everything_ meant.

„I tried to calm my baby sister down, but she was so confused. She had tried to reason with her, but of course, you can’t reason with my mother. And you know how cold it is in Twelve at the moment and Gale lives on the other side of town now, and so she called me and-“, Katniss stopped abruptly as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Peeta took her face in his hands, trying desperately to wipe them away. Surely they must’ve made a weird pair, tangled up on the floor and leaning against the kitchen drawers.

„I’m so sorry, Kat. So sorry“, he said as he gave up trying to dry her tears and pressed his forehead to hers, holding on to the back of her neck instead.

After some time, she continued feebly, „I called Gale, told him where she was. Of course, he picked her up. I called my mom, and of course she was drunk again. I yelled at her but what good would that do? You- you know her. She’s a wreck. Has been for years. And then I called Gale. My god, I have no idea how long I’ve been on the phone already today. He called me afterwards that she was staying at his mom’s now. Prim loves his younger siblings, she gets to be the big sister with them.“

She tried again to gain some distance from Peeta and this time he let her. Leaning back, his arm still wrapped around her to steady her though, she let her breathing calm down more. She never thought that his presence would ever be so calming again.

„I have to go back home. She can’t stay with Gale and my mom, fuck, I have to-“.

„I don’t think Gale would appreciate you running off back to Twelve, ignoring your school and training for a situation I’m sure he’s in control of“, he interrupted her, his face stern. „I doubt neither would Prim. Plus I bet she’s in good hands with them.“

She could see there was more he wanted to say, but he didn’t. He stayed quiet, waiting for her to take the next steps.

„Yeah, you’re probably right“, she breathed out.

„You’re going home at Christmas right? That’s in two weeks. You can yell at your mother then. Go and facetime Prim, I bet she’d love that“, he suggested without any hint of sarcasm.

It was infuriating. He was infuriating. Their situation was infuriating. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but now that she was more clear-headed, she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

„Will you let me go now?“, she asked instead, a slight hint of teasing in her voice.

Peeta nodded, then loosened his grip on her back, so she could get up. Reaching down to him, she lent him a hand, and he took it. Her joints felt sore, the clock on the oven told her that she had been on the floor in one way or another for three hours. Her phone didn’t display any new messages and for a fleeting moment, the world seemed fine. Peeta didn’t let out of his sight as she walked to the fridge and got out a water, handing him one as well.

„Thanks.“

„You called me Kat.“

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, looking at anything but her. „Yeah, sorry.“

„It’s okay. I just- we haven’t-“, Katniss tried to say.

„Yeah, I know.“

They stood there, in their empty kitchen in their quiet apartment hundreds of miles away from their hometown and their dysfunctional families. Not for the first time she asked herself why they couldn’t just be Kat and Peet. Why did they still have to be the children of their parents?

„Well, I’ll be in my room. I have a Business Development exam in a few days and that’ll fuck me up if I don’t get behind the material. If you need me- I mean- If you need anything, call me okay?“, he asked. His voice was strained, clearly not sure how much was appropriate to say and do now that they weren’t tangled up in each other anymore.

„Okay.“

As Peeta walked away, Katniss called after him, „Thanks. For- you know. Thanks.“

He nodded, smiled his ridiculous grin, then vanished behind the corner to the hallway.

Either he really still knew her so well to know that she wanted to be alone now, or he just wanted to get away from her. She was sure it was the latter, but her heart tried her convince her that teenage Peeta had held her and comforted her and that maybe, just maybe, there was still hope for them.

・・・ ・・・

Peeta’s extensive knowledge on Backstreet Boys lyrics amused Katniss to no end while they were driving back to their hometown, just one day before Christmas. She had taken him up on his offer to ride shotgun after he told her that he would be bored out of his mind on the long drive to Twelve. It was a good six to seven hours, but with the way Peeta was driving it would be more like eight. He was an exceptionally slow driver and Katniss had offered more than once to take over the driving, but he had declined every such inquiry. If she didn’t know better, she could’ve sworn that he _wanted_ to spend more time with her.

 _„Tell me why! Ain't nothin' but a heartache. Tell me why. Ain't nothin' but a mistake. Tell me why. I never wanna hear you say. I want it that way!“_ , Peeta belted out, not caring for a second how he must’ve sounded to Katniss. But to her, it was glorious — how he didn’t give a flying fuck and just sang his lungs raw. It was actually kind of beautiful to witness. The whole ordeal pulled on her heart strings.

He looked over at her, his big grin not wavering for a second. „Come on Everdeen, I can’t be the only one singing here.“

„Sorry, I’m more of a NSYNC kind of person“, Katniss confessed, remembering her childhood crush on Justin Timberlake. And as the next song came on from Peeta’s 90s playlist, fate wanted to test her with the bands famous „Bye Bye Bye“.

Peeta looked at her out of the corner of his eye, clearly expecting her to hold up to her claim. When the chorus came on she surprised him and herself equally as she sucked in a huge gulp of air and let out „ _Don't want to be a fool for you. Just another player in your game for two. You may hate me but it ain't no lie… Baby bye bye bye. Bye bye!_ “

Peeta whistled next to her, clearly impressed, and they shared the next hour singing songs that stroked that weird nostalgic nerve in their bodies.

Katniss had noticed how his mood had dramatically changed in the last few weeks until she had realized that Delly had not been around in at least the equal amount of time. She had asked him about it before they had left, if he didn’t want to drive him with her instead. He had only shrugged his shoulders and told her to know worry about her — he wouldn’t either.

She wasn’t looking forward to getting out of the car once he dropped her off at the Hawthornes. Sure, she was eager to hug her sister and Gale who was nothing less of a brother to her, despite them not being related. But she had gotten used to Peeta’s company here in the car and even at home in their apartment, that she found it hard to grasp the concept that she wouldn’t see him for two weeks. Their worlds in Twelve were further apart than they ever were at school.

The blue Kia Peeta had gotten as a hand-me-down from his brother Rye weaved its way through the narrow streets of Twelve. He was driving a detour to drop her off and she was grateful. She wouldn’t be seeing her mother for a few days, and frankly she didn’t care very much. It would take a lot of work for them to get to a _normal_ relationship after what she had done to Prim. Even if normal for them meant strained.

The Hawthornes had moved to a different part of town after Gale’s father had died when he was younger, but his mother had kept them all in the same school and so Katniss had stayed friends with him. When everything had gone to shit, his family became hers and Sylvi Hawthorne had taken on the role as mother whenever Katniss had needed her. She would never be able to repay her.

The blue tiled house was decorated with all sorts of lights, blinking red and green, with green and purple mixed in. A huge snow man loomed outside, a thin blanket of fresh snow covering their front yard. Lights were on in the house — inviting and warm.

„Well, your personal Mellark-Taxi-Service has safely delivered you to your final destination. How would you like to pay, Miss Everdeen?“, he teased her, driving to the side of the road.

Katniss had her bag in the trunk, as well as her coat. Her hand was already on the door handle, but she looked back before she opened it. „Why don’t you think about that and tell me what you want, Mellark?“

She tried to tell herself that she imagined his pupils dilating or his grip on the steering wheel fastening. His voice was rough when he answered, „I’ll think of something.“

Katniss took a deep breath, still not quite wanting to go and something told her, Peeta wouldn’t throw her out of the car if she didn’t want to leave. He’d drive her around town if she only asked him to do so. But she desperately wanted to see her sister.

„I’ll text you when I leave, okay? You don’t have to take the bus“, he said, knowing full well that she didn’t want to overstrain his generosity or be an anchor weighing him to Twelve.

„I will. Merry Christmas, Peet“, she said, her fingers now slowly moving the handle to pop open the door.

„Merry Christmas Kat“, he responded as she got out of the car.

Gale and his mother stood at the window facing the street as she rounded the car and popped the trunk, taking out her belongings. As Peeta drove away she held up a hand in his direction, waving him goodbye. As she turned to the house, the saw the curtains move in the window and then Gale was on the porch, standing in bright pink and at least five sizes too small slippers he had clearly stolen from one of his younger sisters.Te steps of the porch were slippery, but she happily fell into his embrace. As he hugged her tightly against his body, he mockingly said, „Peeta Mellark? I would’ve _never_ guessed.“

Releasing herself from him, she looked up at Gale, who towered over her with at least a foot or more. „What do you mean?“

„Oh nothing“, he retorted, a knowing smirk on his face. „Come on, it’s cold out here and the girls want to see you.“

Christmas was peaceful with her sister by her side and the Hawthorns home always better than anything they would’ve gotten at home. But she also looked forward to the moment she got back into that blue Kia to drive back to Pan U, knowing that Peeta would be singing from the top of his lungs and making her laugh. It was a wonderful feeling, having him somewhat back in her life.

On New Years Katniss sent him a text, wishing him a Happy New Years fully expecting to get nothing in return. When he wrote her back almost immediately her heart did some weird summersaults and Prim clearly and unmistakably saw her flush and grin like a little school girl.

・・・ ・・・

Their black kitchen tiles were white. _White._

You’d think a guy who baked all his life knew how to avoid making a complete mess while baking in his _shared_ apartment that he _shared_ with other humans, but no. Peeta Mellark apparently never learned it, being used to a bakery whenever he wanted to make a batch of bread. It was the first time he actually baked in here, probably even the first time since coming to school. He had always been so occupied with a thousand things; Delly, wrestling, his job at the radio that he hated in between he was excepted to go to school for his business degree as well. But here he was, throwing dough around and flour right after it. It was mesmerizing to watch if she was being honest.

„Excuse me?“, she asked over the music that was coming from the speakers on top of the fridge.

Peeta looked up, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. He quickly turned around, turning off the music before facing her again.

She had just came in from the shooting range and had gone for a run right afterwards, having too much pent-up energy that she knew, if she didn’t get it out of her system before she had to study, that looking at her data science class assignment would be for nought.

It was cold outside, but she immediately stripped off her junky sweater when she had come into the absolute temperature hell that was their apartment, now standing in front of Peeta in leggings and a sports bra. His gaze told her a story of shock, desire and lust — but she knew that she wads imagining things. Peeta Mellark wouldn’t find her in athletic wear any more attractive than in jeans. In short, she was still not Peeta’s type.

When he didn’t respond to her question she asked, „What? Cat got your tongue?“

That brought him out of his trance, and he shook his head, looking back down to the bread he was kneading. He kept his gaze firmly on his little project, even as Katniss carefully stepped into the kitchen, trying to avoid getting herself full of flour. Anything would stick to her body if it came close enough, covered in sweat as she was.

Looking over his shoulder though she asked again, „Why, baker-boy, are you making such a fucking mess?“

„Creative freedom. I’ll clean it all up, don’t worry.“

„Not worried“, she huffed out. „Just curious.“

They were so close. If Peeta would’ve turned his head her way and she would lower hers a few inches their lips could’ve touched. Something she had been thinking about more and more as the semester dragged on and Delly was nowhere in sight. Or any other girl for that matter. She desperately wanted to ask him what that was all about but couldn’t get herself to do it. She knew that things had been rocky between them before Christmas, but they had still _officially_ been together.

For her own safety she took a step back, her hand accidentally picking up more flour than she wanted to. Flicking her hand most of it landed on Peeta. „Upps sorry, wasn’t my intention.“

But it was too late. In one swift motion he abandoned his raw bread dough, took an actual handful of flour from the bowl and threw it Katniss’ way. She had no time whatsoever to react and was instantly covered in the white powder. His laugh rang through the whole room and clung itself to her heart, making her laugh with him. With the same motion as before she picked up more flour and stepped towards Peeta and placed her own flour stash onto his blond hair.

It was war after that and the kitchen looked worse and worse, the more they fought and threw flour at each other like little kids. It landed in every nook and cranny of the kitchen and in every pore of her skin and every crease of her clothing. Peeta was able to corner her against the counter, keeping her in place with his arms on both side of her body, only lifting one to dump the rest of the bowl over her head. While Katniss was occupied he stepped even closer, barely touching her with his body. His eyes were so warm and he seemed genuinely happy. His hands rested on the kitchen counter next to her body as she pressed herself against it. The air was full of flour and Katniss brought her hand up to his face, wiping a little bit of flour from his chin and his eyelids fluttered softly.

„What the fuck are you to fucking dipshits doing?!“, yelled Johanna from the entrance, where she stood with Finnick and his girlfriend Annie. All of them sporting a look of absolute bewilderment and in Johanna’s case mixed with fury as well.

In a heartbeat Peeta had stepped back from her, holding up his hands as if weapons were drawn at him. Katniss followed suit with one hand, while she pointed the other at Peeta, defending herself with a weak attempt of „Peeta started it!“

„Traitor“, he whispered to her, before turning back.

„Fuck I don’t care who started it. Just fucking clean this shit up and then fuck it out. You two and your pent-up sexual tension are annoying“, Johanna said, earning herself bewildered stares from Peeta and Katniss and agreeing nods from Finnick and Annie.

„Ah ah ah“, she started before Katniss or Peeta could object to her statement, „I really don’t care.“ She mumbled some other words their way but had already turned around and vanished into her room, slamming the door shut.

Finnick and Annie shrugged, then did the same leaving them alone in the kitchen once again.

„Well-“, Katniss started.

„Yeah-“, Peeta continued.

Rounding the kitchen, Katniss got the mop out of the closet and offered, „I’ll help you clean“.

„Thanks.“

Ignoring Johanna’s comment, they cleaned up the mess in silence, actively trying to avoid touching each other in any way possible.

Cutting through the silence with his voice, Peeta confessed, „Delly and I broke up.“ And as he looked up and saw Katniss’ eyes already on him, he continued, „She, uhm, she really hates to stay faithful to one person, so…“

„I’m sorry“, Katniss offered, not an ounce of sorrow in her voice. „I never liked her.“

And there it was again, Peeta’s laugh. It filled the room around them once more, lit up her heart and soul and made her smile in return. It was the melody she didn’t know she had missed.

„Hey, I’ll finish up here. The bread has to go into the oven anyway. Thanks for helping.“

Katniss looked up into those beautiful blue eyes, the same shade as the lake in Twelve she had always gone to with her Dad. She nodded to Peeta, quickly leaving the kitchen before he could see the blush that was rapidly developing on her face. Concentrating on her homework was an impossibility that evening, her mind going at lightning speed and Peeta being the protagonist of her thoughts.

* * *

### The one with Peeta

He always put his phone on full blast and let the music ring through their small bathroom, but he wasn’t going back to get it now. Fuck it. He’d be real quick. Stepping out of his pants and underwear, he flicked them away and grabbed a new shampoo bottle from under the sink while he was at it.

Opening up the glass door he stepped onto the white shower tray, turning the water to _hot._ The bathroom steamed up fast, and it was exactly how he liked it. His flatmates were always on his ass about using all the hot water, and he had told them multiple times that they could share the water if they cared that much. He reckoned Johanna would be the only one to take him up on the none-serious offer sooner or later. But who he actually wanted to have in her with him was his other female flatmate. As he let the water stream down his body his mind went to her in a heartbeat — the way it did almost every day now.

Having her here in the same apartment and seeing her run around in short gym shorts more often than not due to the weather was aggravating. The soft skin of her legs glowed and the way he imagined them around his body as he pressed into her was killing him. The amount of times when he caught her touching him was increasing since that day in the kitchen. Little gestures here and there, a featherlight touch to get him to move when she needed a spoon from the drawer or when she needed to get something from the upper cabinet and just couldn’t reach it, and so she held on to his elbow to get his attention.

_She was murdering him without knowing it._

His cock responded to the flood of images and Peeta knew, he’d have to give him his attention if he didn’t want to run around the house with blue balls for the rest of the evening, especially with the apartment's movie night tonight. Having a hard-on to Harry Potter was just weird.

But as he gripped the shaft of his penis with one hand, bracing his other against the white tiles of the shower wall, his profile in full view of the door, the bathroom flooded with light from the hallway, and he remembered that he had forgotten to lock the door.

_Fuck._

There she was. The person who had gotten him into this _position_ in the first place. In the flesh. _If only she knew._

He immediately released his cock, turning around with breakneck speed, only his backside visible to her — the safest position he could be in the shower with the full glass wall facing the door.

„Shit, sorry, Mellark!“, she yelled over the streaming water and slammed the door shut.

_Well, he didn’t need to masturbate anymore._

Peeta concentrated on finishing his normal routine of washing his face and body, trying to ignore the way she had looked at him. He hadn’t missed how her huge eyes had gone straight to his dick — he could only hope that she liked what she saw.

Defeated he turned off the water and dried himself off, tying the towel around his hips and leaving the bathroom with the door _open_. Walking to his own room he glanced back at Katniss’ next to the bathroom; firmly closed. He couldn’t ignore this whole situation, even if he wanted to, and so he made a b-line for her room and knocked. The towel still firmly wrapped in place.

Katniss opened after a few seconds, her eyes wandering to his face, then down and up again. She visibly gulped and waited as Peeta leaned onto her doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest.

„We’re even now, Everdeen“, he said.

Oh, how he had wanted to tell her this at the beginning of their university life just to piss her off. And then he didn’t any more — out of fear of embarrassing her. And now he wanted her to know what he saw, wanted to let her know how much she had affected him.

„Excuse me?“, she asked, her eyebrows furrowing in pure confusion.

Peeta drew a deep breath, then answered, „Last day of high school. I walked into the gym showers because Cass had told me she’d be there. Well, she wasn’t. But you… were.“ Her face was a tomato. A literal tomato and instantly he regretted saying anything. He pushed himself away from the frame and quickly added a little lie in hopes of rectifying his mistake, „But I didn’t see anything. When I saw that it was you I left. Just saying, we’re even now, shower buddy.“

Of course, he had seen her. He had seen her in her goddess-like glory, and he had felt like a total pervert for so long, but fuck had he been turned on by the sight. She was as beautiful naked as she was dressed. He hated himself for how long he had waited to turn around and give her her privacy back then.

„Liar. Those showers are so stupidly constructed that anybody can see everything if they walk in“, she deadpanned, her face still red but her voice calm.

_Fuck. Why was that hot?_

At a loss of words, he gripped the back of his neck and sheepishly looked past her to her bed — oh if he only could.

„It’s fine. It’s not like that today was the first time I _saw_ you.“

The door slammed shut before he could remark anything to that, confusion clouding his mind as he started to rewind time and ponder about what the fuck she had been talking about. Thinking about her seeing him naked other than today made his penis react almost instantly and in a heartbeat he made his way to his room, firmly closing it behind him and turning the lock. He took care of his erection with a trained hand. Efficient but unsatisfying.

They ignored the topic that evening as they watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with their flatmates. They sat furthest away from each other and nobody thought it was weird, but Peeta knew he’d get his answer one day. He also knew that the way she had been ogling his naked chest when he stood in front of her, was unmistakable attraction. She wasn’t a good enough actress to fake that, was she?

・・・ ・・・

Training sessions so close to the competition were a pain in the ass. Peeta loved wrestling, and he was fucking good at it, but he barely had any time for anything else. Classes were bitting him as well, and his mind was constantly on everything else other than his studies. Mainly, Katniss.

After the shower incident they had bantered with each other, they had been playful and nice, but of course nothing had ever happened. He made it a habit of walking around the apartment half naked after he showered, basking in the knowledge that she liked seeming him like that. But he was wound tighter than he had ever been in his life. He couldn’t distract his affection for her any longer with other girls — guilt had destroyed him the last time he had tried. Rationally he knew that he shouldn’t feel guilty, he had no obligations towards her. But his mind, oh his mind was solely on her and so it wouldn’t let him. He had to make do with the mental image of her, as he brought himself to a fast release as many times as he could.

That evening he was walking back from the gym, still in his workout gear, fully intending to strip down halfway in the entrance to their apartment and put his body on display. However, the cosmos had different plans as he heard her laughter before he saw Katniss. He’d recognize her melodic voice anywhere. However, before he could make his way to her, he saw the long arm slung around her shoulder and the guy towering at least a head-and-a-half above her, roaring his own laugh at her.

_Fuck._

It felt as if somebody had stabbed him and then, just for fun, had turned that knife around a little. Katniss was on a date. Realization flooded his mind as he recalled the conversation he had overheard that morning between his two female flatmates. Talking about what Katniss would wear. And his stupid brain had instantly gone to the mental image of her in a red dress instead of wondering _why_ she would be in one in the first place.

But there she was, walking around the campus with her date in a fucking skin tight dress. It looked incredible on her. Her hair was still in a braid, but she had ditched sneakers for heels — no doubt belonging to Johanna.

Peeta stopped in his tracks, letting grief wash over him. Grief for a future that would never come. They were walking towards their apartment and so naturally, he had to follow them. As the couple in front of him talked and laughed, the fire he had felt for Katniss was dying with each step he took. Coming up to their apartment building, he stayed back, giving them privacy he didn’t want them to have. He selfishly wanted to ruin what they were doing, but he couldn’t. In the end, he wanted Katniss to be happy, and if that would only happen with another man, then so be it. Peeta would die inside, but he could manage. He’d have to.

To his surprise though, and apparently also to the guy’s, Katniss stretched out her hand to say goodbye. No hug, no kiss to the cheek and thank-the-fuck no actual kiss. Clearly baffled by her action, her date took her hand, shook it, then nodded a few times, said something and turned around to leave in the direction Peeta was coming from.

_Well, the fire inside liked that development._

He didn’t recognize her date as he walked past him and once he was gone, Peeta jogged up to their building, catching up with her.

„Hey!“, he called to her, not wanting to scare her.

As Katniss turned around, her eyes grew wider, her gaze shifting to something he couldn’t place. „Wow, you’re home late, Mellark.“

„Yeah, the championship is coming up“, he offered, his hand gripping the strap of his bag tighter and trying his fucking hardest to look her in the eyes instead of anywhere else on her body. „You ah- you had fun?“

Katniss unlocked their apartment door, then shrugged before passing the threshold. „It was fine. But he- uhm-“, she started, looking away from him. „He’s nice. But not really my type.“

The fire was pulsating in his heart. When her eyes finally shot back to his, they were black as black could be. He gulped visibly, and he couldn’t have ignored the electricity in the room, vibrating through his body and physically pulling him to her. He wanted nothing more than to stretch out his hand and touch her.

„What is your type?“, he teased, throwing his shoes on the rack they kept by the door. As he followed her through the apartment, he was rewarded with her backside. And like the fucking animal he was, he had to stifle a groan.

„Wouldn’t you like to know?“, Katniss asked, a smirk gracing her face. And before Peeta could say anything in response, she had walked to her room, opening it and was looking at him one last time. „Good Night, Mellark.“

„Good Night, Everdeen“, he said as she silently closed her door, a smile grazing her lips that hadn’t been there with the other guy.

He was utterly fucked.

・・・ ・・・

His hangover had finally dissolved. Fuck, that one had stayed for way too long. He was getting old. After Peeta’s wrestling team had won the championship against One State yesterday evening, he had partied deep into the night and had declined every offer from any girl at the party who had seductively tried to get him to have sex with her.

Katniss had been at the finals, sitting between Johanna and Finnick and when they had won she had been jumping up and down with them, hollering at his team. But as family and friends poured in to congratulate the athletes, she had vanished into thin air and the other two had just shrugged their shoulders. They all knew how she could be — he wished that maybe one day she would come down from the bleachers, running into his arms. He had drank a lot after that, trying desperately to numb the feelings he didn’t want to feel.

When his head had finally cleared the day after that, he had made his way up to the roof of their apartment building, the lights of their school’s campus illuminating the night. His feet were dangling from the ledge and his body was supported by his outstretched arms in the back. Looking up to the night sky, the stars were barely visible thanks to the light pollution of the capital. It was peaceful up on their roof, and he liked to come here to clear his mind.

„I knew I’d find you here“, Katniss said, sitting down next to him. „Congratulations on your win, by the way.“

A beer was stretched out to him when he looked up, and despite some alcohol still running through his system, he took it. How could he not? Anything that came from her he’d take with open arms. As she was making herself comfortable, Peeta saw the light’s from Jonson’s Hall switching from blue to red, then back to white again and so on. Most of his team were there, watching the finals of the gymnastics tournament and hoping to get some action from the gymnasts after their highly probable win.

Katniss and him had been in this weird limbo state of co-existing. From Johanna, he knew that she had been on two dates with two guys — both had ended in the same way. His flatmate had suggested that he had something to do with those endings, rather than the guys she had been with, but he wasn’t going to get his hopes up.

Now it was almost time to say goodbye to their little apartment before he left for Twelve again, his brother soon picking him up. He wanted to clear the air before that happened, the way he had wanted to do for months now. She needed to know where he stood and how the past still clung itself to him. Even if they were friends now, they had been through some shit.

Without bullshit or time to think too much about it he started.

„Katniss... I- uhm... Fuck. Okay“, he started, stopping to take a big gulp of beer. „I’m sorry for what we went through“, he finally whispered into the night, the wind picking up the pieces and lifting them off his chest. They were gone as soon as he said them. He slowly turned his head, looking at her. Her eyes were already glued to him, the lights from the school’s buildings reflected in her orbs.

_She was breathtaking._

„Me too, Peet“, she answered honestly, continuing with words he never thought he’d hear from her, „It wasn’t our fault and still somehow we got in the middle of it.“

His vision growing blurry, he knew that tears would be an integral part of tonight’s conversation. His heart was bleeding as his face showed all of his emotions.

„I’m sorry about your Dad. I know I never said it but- I am. He was a good man, and it was my Dad’s fault. I’m sorry.“

Katniss’ hand shot forth and took his, holding it tightly as she breathed out, „Don’t be. My Mom and your Dad decided on the affair, they are to blame. Not me, not you. The heart attack he had afterwards, well, yeah- I just wish you would’ve been there.“

Air got knocked out of his lungs and the memories came rushing back, flooding his brain. Katniss and him, inseparable, best friends since kindergarten and their parents having an affair for months. His mother forbidding him to ever speak to her again once the truth had come out. Manipulating him into thinking that Katniss was a horrible person. She made her personally responsible for his father’s infidelity and his parent’s crappy marriage which led to the affair in the first place.

„I made your family responsible for my Dad’s death, and you were _just there_ , I’m so sorry“, she explained, the tears on her cheek reflecting the lights from across town. „He always liked you, you know. He hated the fact that we were caught in the middle. And he knew that I never hated you.“

„You didn’t?“, Peeta asked in disbelief, releasing a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.

„Never.“

„Yeah, me neither. I- It was the easiest way to cope with it, I guess. I hated myself a lot more than I could ever you. I was a coward. I believed my mother much more than my own instincts when she told me-“, he paused, looking away in shame.

„When she told you that my whole family was scum?“, Katniss offered, a wave of pure shame washing over him as she did.

„Something like that, yeah.“ Peeta clung to her hand, bringing it up his heart and pressing them to his chest. „I was an asshole. I wish I could rewind time.“

„Me too“, she chocked out, tears hindering her speech. „But the only way is forward, isn’t it? And I think we’ve made some great progress.“

He pulled her in for a hug then, pressing her body to his as he felt her tears on his shoulder. His own landed in her hair. They stayed like that, content in their small bubble of friendship and memories, on that roof that night in May. They’d have to go back to their families and their lives in Twelve soon enough, it wouldn’t hurt to stay like this for a while longer.

After a few minutes, that felt like blissful eternity to him, Katniss released herself from him, she kept her soft fingers on his arm and her gaze locked on him. „I really did see you naked twice now, you know“, she confirmed out of the blue, a smirk playing around the corners of her mouth. She was phenomenal at lightening his mood.

„Care to tell me when and where, Everdeen?“, Peeta asked, his own laugh coming out laboured.

„You really need to check who is watching you idiots run butt naked over the football field“, she said nonchalantly, taking a sip of her beer.

_Fuck._

He knew exactly where she had seen him.

He laughed. No, he roared. It was loud, and he had to let it out, the whole memory weird and foggy in his brain. Still laughing he laid down on his back, the rocks from the roof digging into his back. „As if you saw _anything_ that night. It was dark! We were running!“

„True, but it still counts“, she mused, laying down next to him and still holding on to each his hand. „Do you sometimes think about how our life would’ve been if our parents hadn’t fucked it up?“

„Yeah sometimes“, he answered, his mind coated with memories from before the family explosion. „More so lately to be honest.“

„Yeah“, she agreed before falling silent as they observed the stars together. Ursa Major was clearly visible — and the only constellation he recognized.

After a while he asked her, „Do you need a ride home after the semester? Rye wants to get me, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind one more passenger.“

„No, I’m good, thanks. Prim is getting me. She got her driver’s license, and she’s super proud about it“, she explained. „She’s taking a friend along for the ride because as you know, it’s fucking long.“

„I remember“, Peeta agreed. „Maybe we’ll see each other in Twelve then. Maybe we could go for a drink or-“

It was a cautious question because he knew they hadn’t done anything together in that damn town for years, not even in the last two years were their relationship had arguably been on the up. Their worlds were so different, and maybe he would just have to go over there and ask her to come along, maybe even drag her out of the house if he had to.

To his absolute surprise she said, „Yeah, I’d like that.“

His mind wouldn’t stop running wild with her confirmation that she wanted to spend time with him. That she would _like_ to go out for drinks with him.

Lying in bed that night, he had a hard time falling asleep. As soon as he calmed his mind down just slightly, it ran wild with possible scenarios of her in their summer holidays.

It took way too long for his taste until they actually got see each other again. He didn’t know it yet, but they wouldn’t find time to be together, their lives in Twelve were so incompatible it physically hurt him.

After he got into Rye’s SUV outside their apartment building on his last day, waving goodbye at Katniss one last time, he wouldn’t see her for several weeks. Not until they both stood on the shore of that lake in Twelve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the second year of Katniss and Peeta's university education. Still not beta'd, sorry. 
> 
> Explicit for language and eventual smut.
> 
> → Note I: Drinking age is set to European standard.
> 
> → Note II: Same as with the years they attend for their bachelor (3).


	3. Year 3 or «How To Be In Love With Your Best Friend»

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes at the end.

### The one with Peeta

Almost their whole high school year was down at the lake, soaking up the warm weather in Twelve. They had come from every corner of the country where they were now, the smallest amount still living in their hometown after these two years. Guys were jumping off cliffs, girls were lounging nearby on their towels — both groups ogling each other into oblivion.

Peeta was waiting for one person in particular, but he seriously doubted she would come. She wasn’t big on socializing, especially not with their former classmates and the girls she hated. He’d get to see her in a few weeks when they both would be back in their apartment a few blocks from the Panem U campus. But if he was being honest he wanted nothing more than to spend one normal summer day with her here in their home. Here in their place where they had been friends at one point in their lives. They hadn’t been allowed to be normal teenagers together since their parents blew their lives to smithereens and for the rest of his life he would regret doing what his mother had wanted.

Katniss had told him that she wanted to spend time with him these holidays, but life had other plans. Their families had other plans. Now he was standing towards the edge of the stone formation, right at the border of the forrest where the path led to this serene place perfect for parties. He could see the teal colour of the lake underneath him, glistening in the sun, ever so often disturbed by the jumpers. Peeta was holding on to his beer, giving his hands something to do instead of fidgeting with his nails, anxious for her arrival.

„Hey you“. Her voice was his personal salvation. How he had ever been able to convince himself that he wasn’t in love with her, much less hate her, was a mystery to him.

Peeta hadn’t heard her come closer and when he turned around he saw Gale already walking down to the other people, a towel slung over his shoulders, cap backwards and hands already up in the air to party.

Katniss stood so close to him, and she looked absolutely breathtaking. Absolutely raw and her attention solely on him. She was wearing _short_ denim shorts over her black swimsuit and her olive skin was glowing in the sunlight. She beamed up at him, her long hair in her usual brain, tucked away under a similar cap than Gale had sported. Peeta didn’t know if it was appropriate to hug her, with both of them showing so much bare skin. But before he could think too much about it, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her body into his.

_It was glorious._

He knew he’d miss her when he got into his brother’s car at the end of the school year, but he hadn’t anticipated just how much. It was like all life came rushing back to him. He slung his beer-free arm around her to give her a proper hug, not without noticing how his skin felt pressed against hers. The tingling sensation at every point they touched was only heightened by the warmth she radiated.

„Hey, fancy seeing you here“, he responded once they broke apart.

Katniss chuckled, then grabbed Peeta’s beer bottle from his hand and took a big swig of it. Unable to explain what her actions did to him, but knowing that he couldn’t take his eyes off her lips. A droplet of the amber liquid ran down her skin, and he wanted nothing more than to lap it up and keep going down to where her breasts dipped into her bathing suit. Moisture coated her lips as she lowered the bottle, her eyes on him. His mind was going a hundred miles and hour, jumping from her releasing those glorious lips somewhere on his body to him nibbling on them.

_Fuck._

As she gave him his beer back, she winked at him and motioned towards the water. But not before actually looking at him — he noticed how her gaze wandered over his whole body, tanned from the sun and his free evenings with his brothers.

„Have you been in the water yet?“, she asked him then, her eyes still on his chest until she realized what she was doing, forcing her gaze up to his face.

„No, I was waiting for you“, Peeta said with a smirk, taking a sip of the beer and imagining tasting her on the rim of the bottle.

„Har-har, Mellark.“

And then just like that, she grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him towards the slope, leading to the rocks right at the water. He saw a few people who were _safe bets_ , nobody too asshole-y and most importantly, no Delly. He wanted to avoid her at all cost. Their break-up, if one could even call it that, had been atrocious, and he hadn’t seen her much since. He was for sure not going to let this summer day be ruined by her. Especially not now that _Katniss_ was pulling him towards the water. He wondered what had gotten into her, taking the initiative as she was. But then at the same time he had to tame his emotions. She was most likely only being nice, just a friend, there was nothing romantic or sexual about anything that she was doing.

But then again, he couldn’t kick the mental image of her pulling him to her bed in the same way she was doing right now.

_Fuck._

„Hey, you stole my hat“, he exclaimed when they had almost made it to where everybody else was laying in the sun, only now looking at the cap more closely. Katniss was wearing his Pan U wrestling team cap, from when they had won the championships. He wasn’t sure why her wearing something as simple as his wrestling cap turned him on as much as it did, but he sure as fuck needed to cover his growing erection, already being spurred on by his mental movie theatre running wild. Quickly he threw his towel somewhat over it, thanking himself for bringing the oversized one that was big for two people.

Katniss let go of his wrist and pulling the cap of, looked at it. „Ah yeah, you left it at home when you went“, she said before sticking her tongue out and grabbing onto the rim, showing off her toned arms. „It’s mine now.“

And just like that she let the cap and her towel fall to a ground, shimmied out of her shorts and made a run for the lake. She dipped into the cool surface of water, her body vanishing under it until finally, her feet were gone as well. The way the water got to hug around her body the way Peeta wanted to do himself, it was agonizing. It didn’t take her long to come back up, her face and hair dripping of water and her eyes just above the water line and fixated on him.

It was as if they were the only two people at the lake that afternoon. Only them and the world was at their fingertips. As he set his foot in the water, feeling the cool water wrap around it, somebody shouted, „Yo, Mellark! Come play volleyball!“ and his head snapped towards the direction of the shouter. Peeta only saw Katniss dip her head back underwater, emerging right after and swimming towards Gale’s direction just a few feet from her. Even after two years of going to the same school and a full year of actually living together, she was still convinced that they lived in two different worlds. And he wasn’t allowed to not feel okay about that.

_Because he was not hers. And she was not his._

He set up towards the volley net, intending to say hi to his old friends but tell them he’d made plans. As images of Katniss in the water already burned itself into his brain, he planned to spend the rest of the day solely with her. Before he could even make it a few feet, however, a woman with long blonde hair and wearing a bright blue bikini stepped into his path. There had been a time when he had thought she was such a beautiful thing, incredibly sexy and with a great personality. But that was history. He didn’t _hate_ her, but using him solely to get with several guys from his wrestling team had been such a dick move that he for sure did not want anything to do with her ever again. Especially not with Katniss being around.

"Delly", Peeta said with tight lips, not daring to say anything else.

"Hello Peeta", Delly purred. "Alone here?"

"Not really as a matter of fact, so, goodbye".

Peeta walked past her towards the makeshift volley ball field, where tanned guys were playing rather horribly. But Delly held out an arm to stop him, her hand grazing his abdomen. He shuddered in displeasure from her touch.

"What are you doing tonight?", she asked, her eyes telling him exactly what _she_ wanted to do.

Peeta looked out to the field, then for a moment searched the lake for Katniss. She was somewhere, and he knew that he _wanted_ to spend time with _her_ , but he didn't suppose that was what she wanted to do. He should've followed her into the water, and he sure as fuck should've kissed her on the roof a few months ago. He should've and shouldn't have done a lot of things when it came to Katniss Everdeen.

"Not you", he said, looking back down at the woman next to him.

Delly snarled at him, nastily huffing out air when her eyes caught something behind Peeta. He turned around to find Katniss standing just a few feet away from them.

_Great._

"I don't think he’s having the best of times with you right now, Delly honey."

Peeta's mouth fell open, and he looked at Katniss in pure wonder. Had he just heard that right? Katniss giving Delly hell for him? Fuck that was hot.

"Excuse me?", Delly asked, clearly irritated.

"Oh you heard me. He doesn't enjoy your company", Katniss said with such a force of confidence that it took Peeta's breath away. She motioned to Delly, her hands dramatically shooing her away. „So, hush hush.“

Katniss walked up to them, put her hand on Peeta's chest and then dipped down to hold on to his hand. With her free one she waved mockingly at Delly and lead them back to the water, away from everybody else. Peeta was a loss of words, his mouth hanging open in amazement. Had Katniss really just done that? For him? No, she most likely took the opportunity the situation presented to get back at Delly. But he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that maybe, just maybe, she actually had done it for him.

_For them._

Katniss pulled him towards the lake, wading her way through the way through the water. He felt his feet scrape at the little pebbles at the ground. Her hand was still firmly holding on to his own and her olive skin was radiating warmth, little droplets shinning in the sun. As the water level reached their thighs Katniss let go of his hand, turning to him.

Their high-school mates around them in the lake, on the platform a few yards away and standing up on the cliff ready to jump, ignored them. They were concerned with their own problems and conquests, trying to soak up all the freedom a lake-day gave them. Gale was off in the distance, very close to Marge. History repeating itself.

„I bet I can swim faster than you, wrestler boy“, Katniss challenged him with a smirk, her face shielded from the sun by her hand. Peeta’s eyebrows rose, but before he could even accept the challenge she had dove into the water, splashing him in the process.

As her dark hair broke the surface again, she turned around, her lips curled in a smile. He could get lost in it. Pressing her body to his, taking those lips and tasting the lake water on them — he hoped he could one day.

And so, naturally he dove head first into the water after her. Of course, he never caught up to her — he’d known this. She had always been an exceptional swimmer. But he sure as hell made sure to stay close to her. As she swung herself onto the now empty platform in the middle of the lake, still damp from former occupants body shaped water puddles, Peeta purposely climbed onto it in the most showmanship version he knew. His biceps curled underneath his skin as he gripped the wooden planks, his groin scraping over the edge and his abs flexed to heave his body out of the water and onto the warm wood. Looking up he was rewarded with her eyes on him.

He loved every second of it.

Walking up to where she stood he debated, for a second, to _finally_ take her face in this hands and press his lips to hers.

_But he didn’t. Not yet._

Instead, he shook out his wet hair on her, his blond locks flying all over the place and making her shriek. Katniss’ laughter rang in his ears and as they laid down onto the surface of the platform, he made sure to have his skin touch hers for as long as she would allow it. He asked her about how Prim was doing and she in return asked about his brothers and laughed when he told her how bad Rye was at planning his wedding. They both steered clear of any other family members, those didn’t matter anyway. Not in their bubble that they currently lived in.

Breaking the silence that settled over them as the summer sun hung low over the hills, Katniss turned her head to him and squeezed his hand that rested next to hers. „Thank you for being there for me the last year. You didn’t have to.“

Her eyes were the same shade of grey as the stone formations surrounding the lake, with their different variations and all. The colour grounded him in a way he couldn’t understand, while a strange feeling of homesickness overcame him. „I’d do anything for you, Kat“, Peeta confessed, not intending to proclaim his devotion to her, but feeling invigorated by it nonetheless.

„Don’t promise things you can’t keep, Mellark“, she said, turning her head away from him. As she wanted to loosen the grip on his hand, he tugged on hers to keep her where she was. Her head snapped back to look at him, her eyes wide.

„Hey, I mean it.“

„Why?“. Her voice was shaky, emotions threatening to break through her signature hard shell.

„Because you mean a fuck ton to me“, he told her truthfully, holding back the full story. Winking at her, he added, „Plus, you just saved me from Delly.“

Katniss snorted next to him, her nose curling in repulsion. „I never understood how you could be with her anyway.“

„Well in high school it was just cool, I guess. Then last year she was just _there_ , and I don’t know. Nostalgia set in, we tried and had a fucked up relationship for a few months“, he said, remembering how he felt a year ago, right here in Twelve. „I think that I also believed that she was the only person I deserved.“

„Well that’s just bullshit“, Katniss said, like it was the most logical thing in the world. „You deserve somebody so much better than her. Somebody who’s honest, loving, and strong. Somebody who loves you for _you_.“

„Jesus Everdeen, when did you become so fond of me?“, he asked, giving her one of his big grins.

She laughed, breaking her hand free of his hold to slap him across his arm. „I mean it. You deserve to be loved.“

„You do too, Kat.“

_If she only knew._

„I- I hope so“, she told him. He knew full well that she didn’t quite believe it herself. She was like that, had always been. She was so fucking strong, but understanding how amazing she actually was had never come easy to her.

They let the sun warm their bodies while they laid there on that platform, basking in each other’s silence. At the end of the day his soul was filled with Katniss and he couldn’t wait to get back into their own world, so far away from Twelve. He had to actively remind himself to let her go from the hug they shared, shortly before she got into the back seat of Gale’s truck that evening. Any attempt at driving her home himself had been for nought and she had insisted that he shouldn’t have to drive the extra few miles to the Hawthornes when Gale was going there anyway.

He would’ve driven her around the country for all he cared. But in the end he let her go, waving at her and reminding himself that they could soon leave this place again.

・・・ ・・・

_Everdeen, 10:03 pm._

_I’ll be there in five._

_Me, 10:04 pm._

_Great, looking forward to it :)_

Peeta was clutching his smartphone tightly in his hands, knuckles already white and checking the screen every few seconds for updates from Katniss. But of course none would come — she notoriously never wrote back.

"Hey dude, calm down. I bet she'll be here any minute now", Finnick said, one hand wrapped around his beer bottle and his other no doubt clasped tightly around Annie’s under the table.

Peeta's head snapped to his friend as he rapidly argumented, "Yeah sure, I'm calm. Why wouldn't I be?"

Finnick’s eyebrow shot up and he took a big sip of his beer, making sure to swallow ever drop before answering. „Because you're nervous. Seriously, the whole bar can tell. You've been in love with her since when? Kindergarten? Dude, chill."

"I haven't been in love with her since kindergarten", Peeta snapped with furrowed eyebrows as Johanna and Finnick almost spat out their drinks, their eyes blown wide. Even quiet Annie looked at him with a distinctive head tilt that told him that he wasn’t fooling anyone.

„Come on Mellark, the only person who doesn't see it is Brainless herself", Johanna said, sipping on her beer again. She had turned her attention momentarily to their little group before gazing back out on the dance floor where Rose was grinding on a girl that _wasn’t_ Johanna. His flatmate was not a jealous person by any means, but Peeta kew that she had more feelings for Rose than she had shown towards anybody else she had shared her bed, or other surface, with.

„You are all crazy“, Peeta said at the same moment as Katniss finally walked through the door to Haymitch’s dive bar. The long, dimly lit room, lined with a bar top on one side, booths on the other, suddenly felt empty and the only person Peeta could see was Katniss. She was dressed in shorts, sheer black tights and a graphic t-shirt that she had knotted at the front, revealing a sliver of her beautiful skin.

He didn’t hear it when Johanna asked, with a smirk on her face, „Yeah... what was that again, lover boy?“.

He also didn’t hear Finnick’s „Aaaaaand he’s gone.“

Katniss visibly took in a giant gulp of air and then walking past the already rather drunk college students waiting at the bar to get their drinks. Peeta loved the way her gaze was fixated on him, as if he were her ultimate goal that evening. Oh, how he bitterly wished that was true.

She wrapped her arms around his neck when she arrived at their booth, Peeta now standing in front of the table, his own arms coming around her waist, pressing her impossible hard into his body. She smelled of the forest and that floral note he still wasn’t able to identify. In a moment of complete and utter out-of-body-experience his hand wandered over her back, coming up to grip at her neck as her hair spilled over his fingers.

„Happy Birthday, Peet“, she whispered into his ear, squeezing her body just a little tighter to his. They held on to each other for longer than was appropriate for friends, but he didn’t care. She was back with him, back in their territory, away from Twelve were they both had been hurt so badly.

„Thanks“, he whispered back as he let go of her, instantly regretting it. She turned to their friends, greeting them as well. Peeta noticed with delight that those greetings were much less intense and he let his mind drift once more to a possibility of being with Katniss in a way that would extend any rational friendship.

As she turned back round to him, still standing at the head of the booth, she was rolling back and forth on her feet. Her hand took his, her slender fingers intertwining with his calloused ones and he could feel the impossible heat radiating off her palm. She was holding his hand and like a horny teenage he couldn’t believe his luck.

„You need a birthday drink. Come on“, Katniss declared, pulling him along to the bar. As she reached the perpetually sticky wooden top, she nearly tackled a girl for the last two free bar stools in the middle of it, sitting herself down first then padding her hand on the other one. Peeta sat down and Katniss let go of his hand, needing both her hands to get the attention of Effie, the infamous pink haired bartender with the weird accent. Rumour had it she had been a famous actress in the Capitol, but fell in love with the grumpy Haymitch and relocated here to the weird town on the edge of nowhere for him.

„Two tequila shots, please“, she shouted over the music and Effie nodded in understanding, throwing the damp towel over her shoulder.

_Fuck._

He had seen Katniss down tequila shots in their first year at a random party where they hadn’t talked to each other. Back when he could still imprison his affection for her firmly behind the steel door that was hatred. This was not going to end well for his imagination and his ability to sleep soundly three rooms away from her tonight.

As Effie slammed down two small glasses with clear liquid, each with a lime on top of them and a salt shaker in the middle, Katniss’ hand shot out immediately, grabbing the salt. Peeta had known that it was coming, but seeing Katniss lick the back of her hand was exhilarating. The slowness in which she did it sent him over the edge and he had to look at the rugged bar owner to get his mind out of the gutter. He couldn’t look at her when he did the same thing — licking his own skin and shaking some of the white grains of salt onto it.

Peeta didn’t have time to look away from her second lick, this time taking in the salt. Katniss looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to join her in the routine that was tequila shots. Lime in one hand, glass in the other, he did it as she had, then downed the shot and bit into the lime, all while not taking his eyes off his best friend. He couldn’t stop his mind from going to Katniss licking him the way she had just done to her hand.

Some sort of other entity must’ve possessed his body, as he placed his hand on her thigh, his thumb stroking the thin fabric of her tights. The way she looked at him made him hopeful, the heat radiating into his palm made his skin prickle and the alcohol in his blood made him do things he wouldn’t have done otherwise.

With his hand still on her and another tequila down, Peeta used the momentum they had and pulled her down from the barstool, wrapped his fingers around her arm and pulled her towards the dance floor. He wasn’t big on dancing and he knew Katniss wasn’t either, but that was neither here nor there in that moment. What mattered was having her close, just the two of them. He forgot about their friends, no wonder gawking their eyes out across the room, watching their every move. Making bets on how long it would take him to finally, _finally_ , make a move.

The music was louder here, at the back of the room, next to the speakers and it was impossible to hold any meaningful conversation. Not that he was planning on it. Well, he knew they ought to, but not here. Not when Katniss was wrapping herself into his arms without him having to pull her to him in the first place. Her embrace was a homecoming for him, her warmth spread to his body and directly to his soul. She was so very proactive with the physical affection she was giving him, that he was wondering if this was actually the Katniss he grew up. This was a woman who was showing how much he meant to her and something told him that if he actually were to make a move tonight she wouldn’t run from him.

_Not anymore._

Swaying to the mainstream music that had surrounded him throughout his summer in the bakery, he held his childhood friend-turned-crush-turned-enemy-turned-friend-turned-crush in his arms, while she pressed her body to his. She kept her hands on his chest and her eyes closed, and moving her body in complete sync with his and the beat. Their shoes stuck to the sticky floor, giving them an excuse to stay in one spot and having their hips do most of the work.

_He was fine with that._

Spurred on by her forthrightness Peeta cupped her face with one hand as her eyes shot open, boring into his. He connected his forehead to hers, bringing his face including lips impossibly close to hers. His fingers tangled up in the loose strand of hair at the nape of her neck and as her lips fell open, he pulled her closer ever so slightly. The heat she was radiating was fuelling a fire in his heart and he needed her to quench it. An enigma as he was sure she would only make it flare up in a blaze of glory.

He was sure, there would never be any other person for him that could give him the same burning sensation as Katniss Everdeen was giving him. Here, on his birthday, in this dive bar off campus, just the two of them, he was sure that he wanted her in his life in a way that his parents would not allow.

But they could fuck all the way off.

Katniss pressed her body into his, her hands coming up to the collar of his t-shirt as she pulled him down closer to her face. A blinding and unbelievable sensation ran through his body as their lips connected just the barest amount. He couldn’t believe that she had actually initiated it. And just as he wanted to press his lips firmly against hers and inhale everything that was Katniss, he could feel disgustingly long nails snake that way around his arm, pulling his hand away from Katniss’s face.

„Hey babe, what’s going on here?“

_Fucking tits in hell. This could not be happening._

As fast as everything had happened between them, the faster Katniss broke away from him. Her eyes very fully blown, staring right at him. Laboured breathing made her chest rise and fall quickly and he realized that she too, just like him, knew exactly who was standing next. Her mouth hung open and the unmistakable pain in her eyes crashed into him like a freight train.

„What the fuck are you doing here, Delly?“, Peeta spat as he turned his head to look at his ex-girlfriend.

_What the fuck was her problem?_

„We had such an amazing time this summer and you never got back to me, baby“, she drawled, setting herself in motion as she raked those manicured nails over his chest. It was the same spot Katniss just had her hands on, but the feeling was anything but. No flame, not even a few sparks, and for sure no fire. There had been a time when her touch was what he had sought, but not anymore. Not after he had felt just a glimpse of Katniss and what she could _feel_ like. How she could make him feel and possibly, how he could be the one to make her feel the same way.

Peeta had no idea what Delly was talking about, he had barely even seen her. The longest had been those few moments at the lake. Much too late he realized that she was just lying, trying to get under his skin but much more important, get under Katniss’ and get back at her. He needed to make sure Katniss didn’t think that Delly was still in his life in any way, shape or form.

„I have no fucking idea-“, he paused when he realized Katniss had turned around, making her way past their friends, ignoring their calls and heading straight for the door.

„Fuck“, he exclaimed. He wanted to follow her, but Delly caught his arm, forcing him to stop and look at her. He wanted to tackle her to the ground. His breathing was laboured from the anxiety of letting Katniss go out of the bar alone. Glaring down at the blonde woman, he waited for an explanation.

„Come on Peeta, we had so much fun. You know I’m the only one for you.“

The words just went through him, he couldn’t care less about what she was saying. He freed himself from her grip and gave her one last angry glance, then strode right past her, ignoring what she said next. He was a man on a mission.

It was still warm outside from the previous summer day and rain hung in the air, anticipating a sticky night. Peeta saw her walk away from the bar, in the direction of their apartment and set himself into a sprint. With fast breathing and a heavy heart he spun her around at her arm.

„What are you doing?“, she asked, hurt so thick in her voice one could cut it with a knife. Her eyes were red, at the brink of crying. It was an image he never ever wanted to see again. He never wanted to be the cause of her pain — he had been that for so many years, and it needed to stop.

„Katniss, I’m sorry“, he breathed out, in between the beats of his heavy heart.

Katniss snarled at him, her grey eyes furious. „You’re sorry? For what? Delly or Delly being there?“

„I can’t control where she goes and what she does, Kat“, Peeta snapped, throwing his hands up in the air. He needed a haircut and now his curls were falling in his eyes. As he angrily swatted them away, he realized how irrationally mad he was at the situation they were in.

„Are you serious, Peeta? After everything we talked about? Unbelievable“, Katniss spat, crossing her arms in front of her body. Nails digging into her skin and her face red with fury, she looked away, angling her face towards the night sky, no doubt attempting not to cry.

Peeta stepped towards her with an outstretched arm, wanting nothing more than to touch her. „What- what are you talking about?“, he asked, making sure his voice was calm. But Katniss backed away, her eyes clearly filling with tears. The street lights reflection in them turned from yellow to red, making her blush even more prominent.

„Delly“, she yelled at his face, throwing her hands up in frustration and resignation. „You know what? Fuck you.“

If his brain hadn’t been running low on thinking juice he would’ve understood what she was saying. And he would’ve told her what he had wanted to say for so long. Trying to get his breathing to slow down again, he looked her straight in the eyes. Now was the time to tell her that Delly meant horseshit to him. Now was the time to tell Katniss that she was the most beautiful human being on the planet. Now was the time to make the last seven years of their life right.

_I love you._

_I’ve loved you since I can remember._

_I’ve been in love with since forever._

Nothing came and it was clear that Katniss anger turned into irritation, then sadness. And Peeta knew internally that this was the moment he ought to right everything, to save the relationship they had worked so hard on, but as fate wanted nothing more than to fuck up his life, he heard Delly’s high-pitched voice call out his name. And for the split second it took him to react to it and his brain to pull its attention away from Katniss, she had turned around and started to run towards their apartment.

And he knew. He knew that he had just lost her. He had no idea if he would ever get the chance to get her back.

Peeta didn’t bother going back to the bar. His friends had seen what had happened. As he unlocked the apartment door a few minutes later he heard the shower running, with the woman of his dreams underneath the water. His hand weighed heavy on the wooden door as he held it open, trying to soak up just a little bit of that warmth she had given him before. His lips tingled of the memory of her own and his chest burned from her palms.

Come morning she would be gone, abandoning their apartment for the bar she still worked at or the shooting range she was putting the hours in to finally get that trophy at the end of the year.

His flatmates only shook their heads when he asked about her that week. Johanna was the most optimistic, telling him that she almost had her convinced to come with her to the annual varsity party that weekend. But Peeta knew better and more importantly, he knew Katniss. She wouldn’t show. She hated him again, deeply hurt by the trauma he gave her heart. It matched the one he had so perfectly, he was sure of it.

* * *

### The one with Katniss

She hadn’t wanted to come, but Johanna had been so persistent and wouldn’t accept a no, so she tagged along. To a party where Peeta was, according to both her other roommates. As the two women made their way through sweaty frat bros, the sticky air hit them instantly. Johanna abandoned her for some other friends she had spotted as soon as they got a little more air around them, standing in the living space with couches left and right.

_Typical._

And as her gaze trailed after Johanna, she spotted Delly in a corner. Having her tongue sucked on by a tanned guy with a buzz cut.

Katniss had convinced herself that she was still in Peeta’s life, even if her roommates had told her a different story. But the image of her in the bar, snaking her way between Katniss and Peeta wouldn’t leave her mind. Rationally she knew that there was nothing there anymore. Peeta coming with her instead of staying with Delly at the lake should’ve cemented that into her mind, but it didn’t. The thoughts were still there. And she knew that she should’ve spoken to Peeta about the whole thing, but she just couldn’t do it. The way they had yelled at each other, it has just opened up old wounds, and she had no idea how to heal them.

It had been a long summer without him and yet somehow, the last week since the incident at Haymitch’s felt even longer. She had only heard him in the bathroom when he went for a shower, turning up his music on full blast or had only heard him clank around with pots and pans when he had come home after training. Oh, how she had wanted to go and fucking take him against the kitchen counter, claim him as hers.

_But he wasn’t hers._

What she had thought she had felt in the bar was nothing. Peeta had been nice, probably also quite drunk. Today would be no exception. He would be drunk again, Delly would be here and insert herself next to him and Katniss would go home alone and life would go on. Maybe she really needed to move out of the apartment if she wanted to keep her sanity. The idea of Peeta and her ever being anything more than just friends was a fleeting idea that lost any solidity the more she thought about it. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t _not_ think about Peeta when she kissed somebody else, imagine living with anybody else other than him.

Looking around the living room space, she had completely lost any trace of Johanna, and so she made her way through more sweaty people to where she knew the kitchen and the drinks were. Putting on a short skirt and her favourite band t-shirt had been out of her comfort zone, but it was hot outside. Katniss told herself that that was the only reason for her outfit choice and that it had nothing to do with how the baker boy from Twelve looked at her when her hair was down, and she wasn’t wearing oversized clothing for a change.

_Hungry._

The red alcohol mixture in one of the pitchers was sweet and sticky, and she gulped it down in one go. The next one she took outside, back into the living space with all the others. Students were making out left and right, others were even leaving the party up the stairs to do god knows what. With her arm resting over her chest and her teeth nibbling on the rim of the cup she was holding, Katniss was observing the situation. She could stay a little longer and then leave, that would satisfy Johanna. Or she could leave now and get an ass whupping from her in the morning.

Before she could make up her mind she saw him, laughing with a few of his teammates, all of them well-built wrestlers. Most of them with t-shirts two sizes too small clinging to their torsos. Katniss had a hard time taking her eyes off him. His black t-shirt fit perfectly, hugged him perfectly and the way his biceps muscle stretched underneath the hem of the sleeve sent a shockwave through her body. As he took a sip from his drink, he arched his head back, letting the alcoholic drink run down his throat.

_Fuck._

She was utterly and completely in love with that guy. There was no way she could stop her mind from wandering back and forth to the times when he walked around the house with his towel wrapped low around his hips. The times she had seen him naked. The time when their skin had touched for hours on end in the lake in Twelve. She felt every single one of those moments deep in her belly, the fire she felt with him burning staidly, never going out.

Katniss had no intention of dancing when the next song started, but as one of her biology classmates from the last year, Cato, held out his hand and smirked at her, she took the chance. Deep down she hoped that Peeta would just turn around for a second and feel the same way she did whenever Delly was near. Would it make him jealous? Would he even care?

Moving her body to the late 00s music, Cato crowding her from behind, his hand on her stomach, she looked up. His eyes were on her, opened wide and baffled by the scene he was seeing. Their gazes were fighting for dominance as Cato whispered something into her ear that she was ignoring. She couldn't care less what this guy was telling her, she wouldn’t be going home with him anyway. But just for a second longer she indulged in their dance, closed her eyes again and pressed her body into his. The music reverberated through her body as suddenly a warm hand slung itself around one of her arms.

His eyes were so dark. Katniss wasn’t used to his blue being almost dark. But here he was, his face a grimace of anger and yes, jealousy. Nobody else around them cared, Cato himself shrugged them off and made his way to the next girl, sure in his abilities to get some action tonight.

The music grew quieter around them, as Peeta held on to her arm, his eyes boring into hers. People bumped into them, clearly still hearing the music. As his eyes raked over her body, taking in what she was wearing, the flames licked at her heart and threatened to burst free.

In one swift motion and without any force at all, Peeta dragged her away from the living room space with the other people and into a fairly quiet hallway off the stairs. Halfway down it, he spun her around, pinning her to the wall with his arms caging her in against the solid mass. She shuttered at how utterly turned on she was.

Katniss gave him a few seconds to calm his laboured breathing while he suddenly grabbed the back of his neck. The blazing fire of her heart was licking its way to her finger, and before she could stop herself, she laid her hand on his chest, feeling his pulse. Her fingers grazed over the skin just above his collar and Peeta closed his eyes, letting out a huge breath of air.

„Hey“, she whispered. He leaned in closer, pressing his chest against her hand. His presence was intoxicating and Katniss wanted nothing more than to have him closer. Just a little closer.

„Hey“, he said, his eyes opening up again and the blue being only thin rings around his pupils. „I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have- Cato is- _Fuck._ “

„My hero“, Katniss responded, her hand wandering up to the side of his neck, stroking the short hair at his nape ever so slightly. „We’re even now I guess.“

„I guess so, yeah.“

She had wanted him to be jealous, not come and save her and drag her to a deserted part of the house. But Katniss wasn’t complaining as heat pooled at the lowest point of her belly.

„I-“, Peeta started awkwardly, „Nothing is going on between Delly and me, Kat. I need you to know that. I didn’t know what happened last weekend, but I should’ve told you then.“

„I- I just- Fuck. After the talk we had at the lake and then her being there _on your birthday_ , I don’t know, I freaked out I guess.“

„You freaked out?“, Peeta asked, his voice coated with a thick layer of confusion and something else.

Katniss shrugged her shoulders, looked away from Peeta and bit her lower lip. A couple stumbled their way past them, ignoring them completely, lost in each other's arms. „Yeah, kind of. I mean, I knew that you guys were over, but you know- she’s Delly. And you’re Peeta. The two of you have _history_.“ She looked back to him, as his gaze never left her face.

Without missing a beat, Peeta looked her in the eyes and said, „You and I have more.“

Reducing the distance between their bodies Peeta leaned in closer, his cologne think in the air. He had used the same scent for years and a few memories of their past flashed before her eyes. Lockers. Classrooms. Bleachers. A random party.

A Peeta’s fingers came to wrap around the hem of her t-shirt with the cracked graphics on the front, she let her head fall back, resting against the wall. His hands grazed her skin on her belly and heat spread from there to all parts of her being. Katniss moaned unwillingly in response, then immediately took her bottom lips between her teeth again to stop from letting any other embarrassing sounds out.

When she opened her eyes to assess the damage, she found Peeta looking at her whole body all at once, unable to focus on anything in particular. Did she really have this effect on Peeta Mellark? The guy who could’ve had any girl at their school?

„Katniss, fuck.“ Peeta’s voice was shaking, his eyes finally coming up to meet hers. „What are you wearing?“

Peeling her gaze off him, she looked down at herself, then back up and asked with the slightest hint of uncertainty, „Don’t like it?“

Peeta huffed in offence as he stepped closer, making her stand between his legs. „Are you kidding? You look fucking amazing. You have no idea the effect you have.“

_Oh._

The hand on his neck wandered up, cupping his face. And as Katniss placed her thumb on his lips, he froze. She had no idea what was going on with her, she had never been like this with anybody. The fire that burned deep within her for this man was uncontrollable, it roared and lashed, the flames threatening to devour everything. She felt more at that moment — them just standing with each other — than she had during sex with any other guy. It was hotter, more exciting and thrilling than anything had ever been. His touch burned brighter than the other ones ever could.

And as Peeta closed his eyes and leaned into her hand, his warmth radiating into her palm, she realized that it made sense. It was him. The utter presence of Peeta Mellark that was the spark that ignited her fire and kept it going. Her finger grazed over his soft lips, and she knew deep down that if she’d press herself to him and kiss him he’d allow it.

Against her finger he started, „Katniss, I-“.

Reality crashed back into them as her fire fought the cold water that splashed against it. A voice called from one side of the hallway, „Yo Peeta! Quit fucking around! We need your help with this foosball game.“

Before Peeta could even give him an answer, Katniss let her hand drop and mentally released herself from their bubble they had once more created. The hurt she was feeling mirrored itself in his face, mixed with irritation. The universe hated them.

„Fuck“, Peeta breathed out.

„It’s fine. Go. I wanted to head home before you _saved_ me anyway.“ She stood on her tiptoes, placed a lingering kiss on his shaved cheek and then slipped underneath his arm, still resting against the wall. Before she was too far away, she turned around, and assured him, „We’ll talk at home, okay?“

„Katniss-“, Peeta started, dropping it when she didn’t turn around.

And before Peeta could find her between the college students, she slipped out of the house, the scent of him still in her nose, the feel of his skin on her fingertips and the beating of his heart in her palm. Maybe she had messed up again. Their relationship was so fragile and they both danced around the other in an intricate way, never too much, always pulling back, never saying what they wanted to.

Her walk to the apartment was short as the street still radiated heat from the day and the air smelled of rain. A storm was coming.

・・・ ・・・

Hair damp from a cold shower a few minutes ago, Katniss made herself some toast and bent over her notes for the coming week. She knew that if she’d try to go to bed now, it’d be for naught — her mind was going a million miles an hour. And maybe, just maybe, she’d catch Peeta coming home.

She looked up when the apartment door swung open, the man in question standing in the door frame, his eyes sweeping over the entrance and finally landing on her. It must’ve finally started to rain because Peeta was soaking wet, his blond curls clinging to his head and his black shirt tight on his body. His grey pants were dark now, showing all of his muscles. Katniss gulped visibly.

„Couldn’t resist a wet t-shirt contest on the way home, Mellark?“, she teased, averting her eyes to keep some sort of normalcy. She had to be patient and let the guy get in the door first, dry off maybe. She wanted to talk to him, she really did, but she was also a chicken. Feelings and emotions were hard to put into words for her and the conversation they were about to have would be a hard one — there was no shame in wanting just a little more time.

When she looked back towards his direction his whole body language screamed determined. His stance: determined. His eyes: determined. His breathing: laboured, but probably also determined.

Peeta silently made his way to her at the kitchen isle, cadging her between his arms and once again holding her against something immobile. It was as hot as it had been just a few hours before. No, probably even more so with the way he looked. She didn’t care that he was dripping and getting her wet in the process. It was happening in more ways than one anyway. His hands held on to the kitchen counter left and right of her hips, while she was holding on to that stupid toast for whatever fucking reason. She could feel his laboured breathing hot on her skin as his eyes bored into hers. Veins bulging in his arms under the tanned skin.

„Will you for fucks sake stop running away?“, he whispered, before continuing with a steady voice, „I’ve been in love with you since kindergarten. And you have not stopped running since then.“

_Excuse me?_

Air rushed out of her lungs, keeping her from giving him an adequate response to his confession. Her skin felt hot and the water dripping from his clothes pooled on the floor. And as she didn’t know what to say, she gripped his neck, pulling him down to her level and crashing her lips to his. The exact way she had wanted to do for months. Years. She had no idea since when, but the moment she did it, she mourned the times she hadn’t. She could’ve had this with him for forever. The fire inside her roared to life and clung to every bit of her being.

„I wanted to do this for months“, Peeta breathed out, mirroring her thoughts while disconnecting their lips. „There was always some stupid reason not to tell you. I-.“

Katniss hoisted herself onto the kitchen counter and made him stand between her legs, pulling him closer to her by his shirt and devouring his lips again. This time she opened hers up, letting him gain entrance and take her with his tongue. Fuck, he was a fantastic kisser. All of those years of training where she looked at his past relationships in pure agony and jealousy were paying off. His hands were in her hair, pulling and tugging on her braid, while hers were exploring his body, restricted by the fabric he was wearing.

„Kat-“, he started, breaking away from her.

„Can we talk later?“ Katniss’ voice impatient. She didn’t trust her brain at the moment with something like _talking_. Something she was notoriously bad at the best of times. She had him underneath her palms, they could wait a few hours to talk. „I’ve waited years and countless sex dreams for this.“

_Yeah, should’ve kept that mouth shut._

„You- you’ve had sex dreams about me?“, Peeta stammered his way through the words, gripping her thighs hard. Her skin would display bruises the next day, but she didn’t care one bit. She wanted more. More of him. Katniss didn’t answer him, she hoped her hooded gaze would tell him all he needed to know. As she licked her lips, she made sure her tongue slid back slowly and her hands wandered around his chest in slow motions.

„ _Fuck_ “.

His hands were everywhere after that, his drenched clothes touching her skin and making her whole body shiver. The fire was too powerful, no amount of wet clothes would extinguish it.

„You need to get out of the clothes“, she said, gripping at his dark shirt and yanking it up. She was instantly rewarded by his set of muscles, formed by years of training. The tattoo he had gotten after graduation was on full display, wrapping around his ribcage. Katniss‘ fingers glided over his inked skin, with the barest amount of touch. She could feel his skin prickle, goose pumps spreading out of his whole torso ignited by her fingers. Suddenly, the whole world got a lot slower and the rush she had felt to get him undressed and fuck him senseless was shifting to a controlled wave of affection. Katniss blinked, her eyes now leaving the tattoo of the big tree to look him in his blue eyes.

This was normally the time she grew embarrassed, the moment right before two people actually crashed together and were lost in sex. But the way this glorious, infuriating, impossible but beautiful man looked at her didn’t let her. The look he gave her was one of those usually reserved for the pretty girls, but just… It was _more_. His eyes had something in them, gleaming of adoration and love.

_Could it really be that simple?_

Katniss knew it was for her. No other man she had been with had lived up to Peeta and until this moment she’d never realized that she had compared every single one to him without actually having anything to compare them to. They’d all had the wrong eye colour, the wrong hair, the wrong body, the wrong voice and the wrong memories. They never stood a chance.

Here was the real Peeta, intertwining his fingers in her loose hair and pulling her face back to him. His lips were on fire, catching every bare strip of skin that he could reach, from her jaw town to her collarbone. His tongue lapped at her skin and her breathing grew harder by the second.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and connected them at the ankles, just above his ass. Peeta took the clue and gripped her thighs evens harder as he lifted her up from the counter, carrying her to her bedroom where he swung her door open. Her room, not his. She didn’t want to, but her mind suddenly went to Delly, wrapped up in Peeta’s sheets. The girl Peeta had loved and Katniss had hated. The woman who’d had him for years, who knew him better than anybody else, who knew what his touch felt like and what it was like to touch him.

Katniss immediately tensed up under Peeta’s hands, instantly stilling them, realizing that something was very different. The door was open, the bed was there, but all of her previous confidence had left her body. Peeta set her down, but kept a hold on her waist with one hand as the other came up to cup her face gently, his thumb stroking her cheek bone.

„Hey“, he whispered, tilting her head up, so she had to look at him. „Is everything okay? We don’t have to do this. We can- uhm- watch a movie instead?“

„No!“, Katniss blurted out rather forcefully. She hadn’t intended for it to sound so harsh.

„I mean, no, it’s not that. I do _want_ this“, she paused to wave her index finger between them. „It’s just, all of those girls before me. The girls in high school, the ones here. I know what they looked like Peet, and I’m just, well, _me_.“

It was as if something had switched on behind his eyes, a spark that had been there but only just slightly. Peeta beamed down at her, gaze roaming around her face with what she could only decipher as love.

„Fuck, Kat, maybe let me finish talking next time before you tear my clothes off?“, he grinned before actually laughing. It was like music to her ears, a balm on her wounded heart. There was no sarcasm or maliciousness in it, it was just him, filled with pure happiness.

„I’ve been in love with you since I can remember. I dreamt of what your kiss might feel like since I could understand that kissing would fun to do. I’ve wanted to have sex with you _for years_. Everything that we have gone through I wish we could’ve gone through together, not _against_ each other. I dreaded seeing you in school because I wanted to be able to talk you. And at the same time I loved seeing you there because it was the only time I could actually see you. Watching you during competitions… fuck that was the coolest because you were so _you_. I’m in love with _you_ , Kat. I couldn’t give less of a rats ass than I already do about those other girls. I don’t regret them, but damn I wish they were you.“

„Idiot“, Katniss whispered out into the space between them, a grin on her face.

„Yeah“, he drawled, nervously stroking the back of his neck now. „But if I had known that you didn’t hate me, I would’ve been in your face. 24/7. But hating you back, or pretending to do so, talking myself into it, was the only way you would show me any attention whatsoever.“

Peeta pulled her close, his arm tight around her waist. He touched his forehead with hers, like he had done at the bar last week. It was a simple gesture, but it meant everything to her.

„I think after all we’ve been through, we deserve this. Fuck them.“

_Them._

Delly.

His mother, Rosemary.

Her mother, Dodi.

His father, Jacob.

She stood on her tip toes and reclaimed his lips. His eyes and his words had been the reassurance she had needed.

Peeta had been dripping from his soaked pants onto her floor and she really didn’t want a pool of rain water in the middle of her room. That and the reason that she really _really_ wanted his pants off made her grab at his buttons, practically snapping them off and pulling them down. Peeta kicked them off all the way, before grabbing onto her face once again. They were a tangled mess of hands, skin touching, frantic kisses and clothes coming off.

When he unclasped her bra with an expert motion, he took a step back and Katniss could hear his breathing hitch. She tried her hardest not to go back to the place Peeta has just dragged her out of, comparing herself to the full-breasted girls he had been with. But when she saw the way he was drinking her in, everything was right again.

„I couldn’t stop thinking about you after I saw you naked“, he confessed. „And then we moved in together and fuck it was so hard to keep my hands off you.“ Peeta coming back to her, gripping her waist and stroking her soft skin with his thumbs.

„Idiot“, Katniss mirrored her words from before, laced into a smile.

„You’re absolutely incredible, Katniss“, he whispered, lips already back on hers and pressing himself against her.

„Me? Look at you!“, she exclaimed, breaking away from him.

„Oh so you _do_ like my body, huh? I wondered if your gawking meant attraction or repulsion.“

„I didn’t gawk!“ Katniss smacked him on his chest as she stepped back into his space, adding to that, „But if I did, it would’ve been attraction, definitely attraction.“

She meant it, as her hands went back to his skin, exploring every inch of it. His rough hands came up to hold her head in place as he crashed his lips back to hers, nibbling on her lips and asking for access. Katniss knew she wouldn’t deny him anything today and as she felt his erection pressing against her, a pool of lust filled her lower belly, making her shudder in anticipation.

Before her hands could open the strings on her sweatpants, Peeta casually smacked them away loosening the knot himself and pulling her pants down. She wiggled herself out of her underwear, looking at Peeta with a cocked eyebrow, and he happily obliged with pulling his black boxers down, freeing is cock in one motion.

_Fuck._

It was so inviting.

„Fuck me“, she unintentionally moaned out, making his cock visibly twitch.

„I’d love to if you’ll let me“, he said, stepping closer. „Do you want to?“

„Seriously, Mellark? We just ripped each other's clothes off.“ Katniss reached out to him, laying her palm on his waist, feeling his skin react immediately to her touch.

Peeta eyes were on her, seeking affirmation. „I need you to say it.“

„Yes“, she looked at him. „Fuck, yes, please.“

Peeta crashed against her, his hands everywhere on her body, his lips making their way down her throat. Her cries bounced of her walls as first his fingers pinched her nipples just to be replaced with his lips, swirling his tongue first around one, then the other. As his hands roamed to her ass, kneading at her flesh, Katniss moaned against his skin, backing him slightly up to her bed until his calves hit the side. As she gave him a slight push, Peeta fell onto her white bedsheets in all his tanned glory.

_He was a fucking masterpiece._

And from the way he looked at her, he felt similar about her. His hands came to rest on her hips as she straddled him, feeling his erection pressing against her core, now coated in her wetness. Kissing him felt electrifying and the sounds she was getting from him spurred her on as she wrapped her slender fingers around his cock, using her wetness as lubrication. Moving up and down in slow ministrations made him close his eyes and tilt his head back, moaning into the dark room. As she grazed the tip with her thumb, Peeta jerked forward, letting out a high-pitched noise and then grabbed onto her hand, stilling her instantly.

„Fuck, Kat. Stop. You- I- I’ll come if you continue like that.“

Raising an eyebrow at her achievement, she let go of his cock, bringing her thumb up to her mouth and licking any fluids from it. „That good?“

„Well, if had blue balls because of you for months, so…“, Peeta said with a sly smile. He pulled her down to where he was with a swift motion. His hands were in her hair, pulling at it while he devoured her lips and tongue. And as his free hand roamed freely down to between her legs, finding Katniss’ bundle of nerves, she groaned into his mouth, feeling the much-needed pressure against her clit.

Moving against his hand, riding his fingers, she easily came undone. She had just mocked him for being wound up, but she had been tighter than he could ever be. She couldn’t even remember when the last time she’d had sex was — but she knew it would never compare with this right now. Nothing ever would.

As Katniss’ breathing steadied itself again, she lifted herself up, still straddling him and her palms resting next to his head. „That good?“, he mirrored her words from before, a cocky grin on his face.

„Haha, Mellark. I was fucking horny, no big achievement there, hot shot.“

„Oh yeah, you sure?“, he challenged with a cocky grin, grabbing around her waist as he flipped them over in one swift movement.

_Wrestling training indeed._

Resting most of his weight on his hands, he pressed against her core with his cock, coating in once more with her wetness. „Fuck, do you have condoms here?“

„I’m on birth control. And, as you might have gathered from my lightning speed orgasm, haven’t had sex in forever. I’m clean. So, if you- I mean-„

„Are you flustered, Everdeen? You want to fuck me raw, but can’t actually say it?“, Peeta laughed against her skin as he held her underneath him. With a serious note and face he added, „I’m clean too. You sure about this?“

Katniss nodded, sure about it and Peeta’s honesty. The blush she felt evaporated quickly as she felt Peeta press into her. And as she arched her back off the bed, he gripped her leg, hiking it up over his hip to gain a better angle as he slowly thrusted into her. She felt him all around her, the sweet feel of his penis inside her, hitting the right spots and the weight of his body keeping her in place.

When he started to move back and forth, with each pump slamming into her harder she stopped stifling any moans she might have been holding back. Her fire was in full swing, lashing out, making itself known in every fibre. As Peeta’s hips slammed into hers, he took to her clit again, massaging the nob in fast movements, synchronized to his thrusts.

They fit perfectly together, molded perfectly against each other’s body. And when the pressure became too much to keep in, Katniss’ release crashed into her like a wave did to the cliff, filling the surrounding space with all sorts of sounds. After a few sure thrusts, Peeta followed her, catching her as she fell, grunting as he did.

Sweaty and with heavy breathing they laid there, in her bed, in between the crumbled up sheets, with the broken street light from outside blinking against her ceiling.

„Hey“, came his hushed voice after a few seconds, husky from exhaustion.

„Hey“, she whispered back, looking up into his beautiful blue eyes.

They kissed slowly and lazily, now just basking in each other’s presence and their screams still ringing in their ears. Peeta pulled her along as he crashed down onto the mattress, dragging her halfway onto his chest. He was the first to break the silence.

„I finally got my payment for that car drive.“

Katniss drew circles onto his side, over the inked skin. „So every time you drive me around, I sleep with you. Is that what you’re saying?“

„Well, you don’t have to, of course. But if you want to, we can arrange that deal, sure.“

His laugh reverberated through her whole body as she pressed herself closer to him, basking in his warmth. His hand was back in her hair, lightly scratching her scalp. It was pure bliss. Between this feeling and having him pull at it during sex, were her two favourite things he could do to it.

„Did you know that Gale always said that we’d get together?“, she said, remembering her friends words from last year's Christmas when they had shared a bottle of whiskey out on the porch together.

Peeta huffed in protest, „Please, that guy wanted to rip me to shreds in high school.“

„Yeah well, we bonded over our mutual hatred for you“, Katniss teased him as she laid her chin on his chest to watch him watch her. Before he could say anything though, Katniss’ stomach roared in protest, reminding her that she never finished that toast.

„Ok, Everdeen. Time to get you something to eat.“

Before he could get up though, she pushed his chest back down with her hand, while simultaneously straddling his lap, pressing her core back onto his cock. It was exhilarating knowing that Peeta’s body responded instantly to her. „Or I could do something else with my mouth.“

„Intriguing“, Peeta answered, clearly debating her offer. „But food first. We have all night.“

The moment felt so domestic, and a wave of need for this to happen every day washed over her. They had missed so many moments in each other’s lives and had to make up for so much lost time, it was irrational to feel this way about him so soon. She knew that they were still young, they still had their lives ahead of them, but she couldn’t wait to finally get started on hers having him in it this time. They were already living together, for fucks sake.

Peeta snuck his arm around her waist and in one fluid motion was sitting upright with her in his lap. Being whisked around by him and his muscles was something she could get used to. Katniss clung onto him as he got up, walking away from the bed. He placed a lingering kiss on her lips as he released her legs from his hips. The semi erection he was sporting looked like it needed some attention and heat immediately flooded her core. She wanted to feel him back inside her, thrusting deep into her.

But no whining from Katniss would do the trick and so, Peeta put on his boxers as Katniss threw on the first hoodie she found in her drawer. As her back was turned to Peeta, he padded closer to her, sneaking his arms around her frame and fisting the thick fabric. „Why do you have one of my hoodies, Everdeen?“

 _Oh, fuck._ That was right. She hadn’t just claimed his cap for herself but also the hoodie it had been laying on. Answering him by wiggling her ass against his crotch, he groaned into her ear, making her shutter all over. She made it her personal goal to keep them in this room, supper be damned. As his hand lifted the hem of the hoodie and his fingers found her core dripping wet for him, she cried out, bitting her lower lip. He pumped two fingers in and out of her while messaging her clit with his thumb. She hadn’t known that she could even have two orgasms after each other, much rather three. But she cried out once more, shouting his name while holding on to the dresser as she chased her release, falling into pure ecstasy when she found it. Coming down from her high she turned in his arms, slumping her body against his.

Wanting to return the favour she cupped his erection through his boxers, stroking it over the fabric, earning her a strained moan from him. „Love, you really need to eat something that isn’t currently frozen, being delivered or sealed in plastic waiting to be toasted.“

Before she knew what was happening and while she was trying to protest, he lifted her up and threw over his shoulder like a fucking bag of flour. She pounded on his back but knew it wouldn’t do anything, and so she stilled, waiting for him to deposit her in the kitchen. Rounding the corner though he froze, letting her body slide down his until she felt the cold floor underneath her feet.

„What-“, she started to say, turning around to the kitchen where she found their two flatmates.

„Fucking finally. Took you two idiots long enough“, Johanna called to them without looking up. „I’ll need those headphones back, Everdeen.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is here! I hope you enjoyed Peeta and Kattniss' final year - well more like first few weeks of their final year... I'm planning on writing an epilogue if I find time. Enjoy!
> 
> Explicit for language and eventual smut.
> 
> → Note I: Drinking age is set to European standard.
> 
> → Note II: Same as with the years they attend for their bachelor (3).


End file.
